Problems With Pirates
by Ho.ku.o.u.FAIBU
Summary: Ever wonder what would happen if The Nordics and Englands family were pirates. What if they ran into eachother? What if Russia got involved? Kolkolkolkolkol You want to know what happens, Da?
1. Character List

{This page is just a disclaimer and the charterer list for people who are interested}

Disclaimer: Google translate was used so some of the foreign languages may be incorrect. The Russian is not typed in Russian characters it's typed like it's pronounced. I do not own any copyrighted information in this story.

Character list:

Tino: a cheerful young man from Finland and is in a relationship with Berwald.

Bernwald/Bern: a hard to understand Swede (not only because of his accent) who deep down is very loving and kind though it is hard for him to show it, he cares very deeply about Tino.

Matthias/Mat: a fun loving Dane who is naturally obnoxious and sometimes causes damage to things on accident, usually Lukas who he is very close to.

Lukas: a Norwegian who refers to Emil as his little brother sometimes to annoy him, he is not physically the strongest but has knowledge of magic and pressure points, has some feelings towards Matthias but it's a love/hate relationship and he tends to be hostile towards him most of the time.

Emil: a upper-class Icelander who gets angered easily when Lukas brings up the fact that they're brothers since Lukas is so strange, he is fairly normal compared to the other characters. He also has a pet bird named Mr. Puffin.

Arthur: a British pirate captain who's personality can change from caring to cruel in an instant due to his troubled past, he has two sons named Alfred and Mathew. He can use magic and can often see things others cannot.

Alfred: Arthur's oldest son. He is always is looking out for his younger brother Mathew, However he can be a bit obnoxious, and considers himself a hero, he is also very protective of Ivan since he has feelings for him.

Mathew/Mattie: Alfred's quiet younger brother, he has a kind heart and a loving personality despite the fact he was raised to be a pirate. He wasn't always raised by Arthur which helped him have his own way of thinking. He uses 'Perth' as an alias

Francis: a Frenchman that raised Mathew until Arthur took him away. Him and Arthur were close and planed to raise Alfred and Mathew together but had a fallout during which they took the child they felt closest too since neither could manage two children on their own.

Ivan: a large Russian who loves vodka and Alfred, he has secretly cared for Mathew in many ways. He occasionally speaks Russian. He doesn't like Arthur but still works with/for him.

Norsk: An apparition that takes the form of Lukas as a child.

Rossiya: An apparition that takes the form of Ivan as a child.


	2. Well that escalated quickly

"Is everyone here yet?" Tino asked eagerly. It was one of the first times in ages that him and his four friends were actually able to do something together. "This is exciting eh Bern?" Tino said while grabbing Berwald's arm, "It is." he said quietly. The two of them turned when they heard Emil and Lukas boarding the ship. "Just say it once more" Lukas said. "No, I refuse to call you that." Emil responded. "Come on, both of us might not come back." Lukas continued. "No! I'm not calling you big brother, it's childish." Emil protested. "You called me it once." Lukas said in a calm voice. "That was... long ago Lukas." Emil mumbled. "Too long little brother." Lukas said slyly. "Would you stop calling me that!" Emil said. The two of them continued like this for a while longer.

A big obnoxious voice came from the port below. "Lukas!" Matthias said happily. "Oh dear L-" Lukas was cut off by Emil "Hey Mat over here" he then turned to Lukas, "Have fun." He said then walked off. "Lukas!" The Dane yelled "Long time no see!" He said as he picked up the thin Norwegian in a bear hug and was greeted back with an agonizing pain. "Don't touch me." Lukas said as he released his grip from one of Matthias's pressure points. "How've you been?" Matthias persisted. "Don't talk to me." Lukas said as he turned around and crossed his arms. "Awe come on." Matthias said teasingly. "Your being to loud," Lukas said as he started to walk off, "leave me alone." "Why would I do that" The Dane persisted as he fallowed his friend who had turned around. "Did I ever tell you," Lukas said as he caressed Danes jaw. "Tell me what?" Matthias said sheepishly. "How much," Lukas continued to caress Matthias's jaw but inching closer to his ear, "I..." he paused getting very close to the Dane, "Loath you." He said as he pressed another pressure point right next to where Matthias's jaw and ear meet. "AAAaaaHHHhh" Matthias squealed as he nearly fell to his knees. Lukas let go of him and walked away.

The next day everyone agreed it would be nice to do something all together. "How about we swim?" Tino asked. "We should save that for later," Emil said, "we should wait till we can't do anything on the boat first." Emil loved swimming but he knew the others weren't particularly fond of it. The next few days were spent doing things on the boat and just being around each other. They finally ranout of things to do and all agreed it was time to swim. Emil decided to swim longer than the others so Tino lowered the life boat down so Emil could come back up when he wanted.

Shortly after their swim everyone took a siesta that lasted a little longer than it should have. Tino had taken his siesta in the crows nest by accident and awoke to a ship that was almost close enough to board them. "Oh there's a ship" Tino mumbled sleepily then yelled when he saw the ships flag, "PIRATES!" Everyone woke up when Tino yelled and they all started to get dressed and ready as fast as they could. Emil however did not hear Tino at all because he had dived after something.

"Surrender your ship or prepare to be boarded." A British voice from the pirate's ship yelled. "No way man!" An obnoxious Danish voice yelled back, "And what's with the accent?!" "Are you making fun of me!" The voice responded as a single boarding plank made contact with the other ship. Matthias walked over to it and saw a British man boarding their ship by himself. Arthur walked strait up to Matthias. "Do you have a problem with the way I talk?" He asked. Matthias said nothing and just stood looking at Arthur.

"I asked you a question." Arthur said as more boarding planks started connecting the ships. He looked past Matthias's shoulders and saw Lukas who was holding a very old book and was leaning against the main mast. "When you have a problem with Matthias," Lukas said, "you talk tome." "I take it that's your concubine," Arthur said snidely, "he has quite a mouth.You better put him in his place before I do." "Don't talk to my friend like that." Matthias said forgetting that he was not arguing with a man, he was arguing with a pirate captain.

Arthur pulled out his sword, "Let's settle this." Matthias picked up his large battle ax, "Let's." Lukas stopped leaning against the mast while he opened his book and started mumbling something quietly. Arthur lifted his sword, as he did his crew charged towards the ship. Before the first crew member could set foot on the Scandinavians' ship Lukas yelled, "Duskal ikkesette fotenher!" A large shock wave went in the direction of the pirates and blasted all of the first wave into the water. The second wave of pirates was relucktant to charge but still did. "Dere alleskal falle!" Lukas chanted and two thirds of the boarding planks fell along with all of the second wave of pirates. The third wave did not dare to come until someone stopped Lukas.

Bernwald saw what had happened.No one noticed him slip out of sight. Tino saw everything from the crows nest and did not want climb down to get a better look. Emil had heard a lot of commotion coming from another ship. He put his cloths on and was ready to pull himself up if the commotion he heard came to their ship.

Arthur dropped his sword to the grownd and Matthias almost dropped his ax. Lukas stood with his eyes half open, mumming a tune Artur knew too well. Arthur started to sing, "...Flare up and burn it down,  
from corner to corner with that hellfire, don't leave a single trace, burn down even their souls," Lukas's eyes started closing more and he stopped humming, but Arthur continued, "Flare up and burn it down, answer my calling right now, burn down those fools with, a crimson flame..." Arthur turned towards his ship and saw that half the crew was on fire and were jumping overboard.

Arthur stood speechless for a moment then pulled out a small piece of paper from his jacket and started tracing his fingers over something and mumbling, "Dreaded demons drift and drain away this very day." As he finished mumbling he said, "I'll make a deal with you, Matthias." "What kind of deal?" He asked. "Your ships freedom for you Norwegian concubine, or your ship for his freedom." "I don't like the sound of either of them." Matthias said. He then looked over at Lukas who was swaying unsteadily with his eyes closed. Some of the pirates started to move onto the boarding planks and were close to boarding the Scandinavians' ship. Matthias did not know they were coming and just kept staring at Lukas who dropped his book to the ground and collapsed. The ship was then boarded.

"I have a feeling we wont be seeing much more of you," Arthur said while Matthias was beaten and tied to his ax, "or him either" he said as he turned Matthias's head towards Lukas who had started to regain conscious and struggled gently as if in a dream. Lukas was exhausted and could barley move, despite this he was quickly knocked out again by one of Arthur's crew members and fell limply to the floor before being tied up as well. Arthur did not want to risk the Norwegian being able to use his magic again so he picked up the book Lukas had dropped and took it with him. Both Lukas and Matthias were then dragged close to the edge of their captors ship.


	3. Muggles and Mattie

"You bastard! You said you would let him go!"Matthias protested as he looked at the pale Norwegian being dragged beside him. "I lied, but you should've expected that." Arthur said with a smile, "I'm a pirate."Bernwald fallowed them but remain hidden.

After a few minutes Arthur ordered for Lukas to be thrown overboard. Ivan picked up the limp Norwegian by the throat with one hand and looked him over. Matthias started to struggle as Lukas was picked up."What a shame," Ivan said, "you would have made me a lot of money Da." Ivan looked him over one more time then threw him overboard.

Bernwald charged out of his hiding place as Lukas was thrown. He fought as long as he could and even tried to free Matthias so he could help. Tino looked down from the crows nest and climbed down to help fight. He could not make it to the fighting in time though. Bernwaldhad put up quite a fight but was easily over powered by Arthur's crew. He looked and realized Matthias had fallen over board during the fighting. Bernwaldquickly looked for Tinohopping he had not fallen off as well since he thought he saw him climb down from the crows nest during the fight. Tinohad not gone overboard but was still in danger. Ivan was holding him upside down over the edge of the boat, "Now then," Arthur said grinning "lets not do that again shall go below deck, now."

Lukas awoke in a fog of muffled sights and sounds, he could tell he was in a small boat by how much it moved. He decided to stand up and try to figure out where he was. As he got up a dark hooded figure spoke to him. "It'SnOtTiMeYeT," it whispered, "yOuWiLlKnOwWhEnTt'StImE" Lukas then closed his eyes... or... did he open them?

He felt water drops hit his face and heard something. "Brother...Brother...BROTHER!" The voice sounded familiar, like... Emil? He wanted to ask him what was wrong but couldn't speak... or breath for that matter. He remained like this for what felt like ages then heard a loud splash close by. He felt more droplets on his face and heard an new voice that was less faint. "LUKAS! LUKAS!" The voice yelled. He could tell someone was shaking him, then it felt like he was being moved on to his side.

Lukas felt water coming out of his lungs but nothing else then he felt something hit his back really hard. Lukas started coughing up salt water and gasping for air. "LUKAS!" Emil and Matthias exclaimed at the same time. "HE'S ALIVE!" The Dane yelled joyously. "Why do you have to be so loud Matthias?!" Lukas grumbled. Before Lukas could complain about the Dane's behavior any further he had been scooped up in Matthias's arms. "I though you were dead man!" Matthias said quietly. Lukas tried to push the Dane off him but was to tired.

Once Matthias let go of Lukas they both fell silent. After awhile curiosity got the best of him though. "What... how..." Matthias was at a loss for words, he looked back over to Lukas who was sleeping with his arms crossed over his chest. Emil looked away from the other two since he honestly did not want to know what Matthias was trying to talk about, as he looked away he saw a book floating in the water. As he reached out to grab it another hand beat him to it. "What is it?" Emil asked Matthias who was holding the book. He didn't say anything at first. "Is this... the same book Lukas was reading out of?!" Matthias said as he opened the book.

Lukas started to stir as the book was opened. It was...empty or at least it looked empty to Matthias. Emil watched Matthias thumb through the empty book, "Wait I think I saw something." Emil said as he reached for the book. Matthias handed it to him, as soon as Emil touched it the book shocked them both. "AHG!" They both exclaimed as they dropped the book. The sudden burst of activity woke Lukas up, "What are you two doing?" He asked as he looked down and saw his book.

Lukas picked up and opened his book, "That bastard touched it." He said in a voice that was flat and empty of emotion, "I'll have to fix it again." He used what little strength he had to climbed up the rope that connected the life boat and the ship together. "Where are you going!" Emil shouted. "I need to fix my book, I'll be back later." Lukas said as he climbed on deck and disappeared.

Mean while Arthur motioned for everyone to fallow him. A large Cuban and Australian escorted Bernwaldwith his upper body parallel to the floor. Ivan had Tinohoisted over his shoulder with Alfred and Mathew close behind. "Okay then," Arthur said, "Alfred go get a chair, rope, and put them near the brig." The objects were fetched as everyone made their way to the brig. Arthur ordered for Bernwaldto be thrown in a cell and for Tinoto be tied to the chair Alfred had brought. Once this was done Arthur moved Tino'schair so Bernwaldcould see him better. Tino'shead was then tilted back and Arthur pulled out a cloth and put over his mouth and nose.

Arthur grabbed a container of water and slowly wet the cloth. Everyone in the room accept for Bernwaldand Mathew started to smile as a look of terror crossed Tino'sface. Arthur took a bottle of vodka from Ivan who took a threatening step forward. "What are you doing Arthur?" He asked in an unnerving tone. "Don't worry Ivan you'll see, and you'll even get a new bottle." Arthur said as he walked back over to Tino and poured the vodka onto the cloth. Bernwald franticly tried to find a way out of he cell as the liquid was pored. Everyone's smile grew wider as this happened and Arthur even chuckled a little.

Tino jerked and writhed in pain from the burning alcohol that was drowning him. Gurgling and cried, "Please!" he managed to say, "make it stop!" As this happened Mathew burst into tears which caused Arthur to stop. Mathew ran up the stairs quietly sobbing. Alfred fallowed him, "Ivan," Arthur said, "finish things up here." He then went after his whole brig had gone quiet aside from Tino's desperate attempts to get air and the poring of water.

When Arthur reached top side the first thing he saw was one of his sons cradling the other in his arms and rocking him. "Mathew, what's wrong?" Arthur asked but Mathew just started to sob again. "I don't think he can handle it here any more." Alfred said as he looked to his father, "I don't know if I can either." Arthur sat down next to Mathew and Alfred, "Did I... raise you two right?" He asked. Mathew's crying got quieter. "What do you mean?" Alfred asked. "I don't know... I'm sorry you both had to see that." Arthur turned to Mathew, "I am truly sorry Mattie. ...Francis would have never let you been in that room." "I miss him," Mathew said softly "...a lot." He then got up and went down the stairs leading back to the brig.

The only people still down there were Ivan, Bernwald, and Tino. Mathew walked over to Tino and tipped his head up when Ivan wasn't looking. Tino tried not to cough or choke so Ivan would not notice what Mathew had done. Mathew then went over to Ivan and tried to hold his hand. "I missed you." Mathew said in the best Russian he could muster. Ivan turned and hugged him, "I missed you too." Mathew had to suppress his fear that Ivan might know that he was trying to distract him."You want to go outside Da," the Russian said, "it's sad in here." When Ivan went to get his vodka bottle Mathew gave Bernwald a key.


	4. Dark confrontations

Mathew and Ivan left the room without looking back. After a few minutes Bernwald opened his cell. He quickly went over to Tino and removed the cloth from his mouth and placed him and the chair on their sides. Tino started to cough up water and vodka all over the floor as Bernwald untied him from the chair.

"You ok?" He asked while he picked Tino up off the floor and sat him in a corner. After looking him over some he got up,"Wait here." Benwald said as he left Tino in the corner and wen up stairs to see if the coast was clear. He came back a few minutes later, "Can you swim?" Tino looked up at him, "I think so." He said as he tried to get up. Bernwald saw Tino clutching his abdomen, struggling to get to his feet so he offered him his hand. "That better?" He asked while helping Tino to his feet, "Yeah, thanks Bernwald." Tino said happily and weakly as the Swede picked him up bridal style and headed up the stairs.

Bernwald and Tino easily made it to the edge of the ship where they saw a cargo net. "We should climb down so the water won't make a splash."Bernwald said as he set Tino down. They started climbing when about half way down Tino slipped. He almost fell into the water but Bernwald caught him by the sleeve of his shirt. They made it to the water and started to swim towards their boat. They had finally escaped.

Tino and Bernwald swam to where they had left the life boat and found Emil and Matthias already in it. "Wow you guys are still alive!" Matthias said happy that he didn't lose anyone close to him during this whole ordeal so far. "You're alive too." Bernwald said slightly surprised that Matthias didn't drown when he fell overboard. "What happened to you two?" Emil asked as he helped Tino into the boat. Tino began to breath heavily remembering the traumatic experience he had gone though for the past few hours. After Emil saw his reaction he didn't pry any further.

Meanwhile Mathew and Ivan were on the top deck. "It's so open out here." Mathew said as he looked up at the stars. "Da, it's so peaceful." Ivan said almost like a child seeing something new for the first time. A few minutes passed and neither of them said anything for a long time.

Alfred left his quarters to go for a walk to help him sleep since his day had been stressful. He could hear Ivan's voice in the distance, "I know what you did," it said. Another voice Alfred couldn't quite make it out since it was so quiet had said, "How did you know?" Ivan spoke again, "I would have done the same thing Mattie, don't worry I won't tell." "Thank you." The quiet voice said. Alfred decided to get closer so he could hear better and saw something he didn't understand. Mathew was being held from behind were both talking and looking at the stars.

Alfred watched Ivan and Mathew talk for a while longer before they both said good night to each other and went to their quarters. Alfred fallowed Mathew as silently as he could and waited till they went past a dark corner. He grabbed Mathew and threw him a in the corner as he pulled out a dagger and held it to his face. "Stay away from Ivan," Alfred said harshly, "he's mine!" Mathew whimpered and struggled as he tried to get out of his brothers grasp. "What are you doing Alfred?" Two voices said, one was menacing and frightening the other was genuinely scared. Alfred looked towards them and only saw one person, he looked back at Mathew who was looking behind Alfred and had a look of terror on his face. "What are you doing to Mattie, Alfred?" Ivan's frightening voice asked again, this time from behind him.

Alfred dropped his knife and his brother, then turned to Ivan with his head down. He stood there a moment in shame then tried to curl up to the Russian. "Alfred," he always loved how Ivan said his name but this time it felt like torcher, "What were you doing to Mattie, Alfred?" The Russian continued. Arthur went over to Mathew who had curled up in the corner he had been pushed into and helped him to his feet. "Go to your room Mathew," Arthur said, "now." Mathew left but didn't go to his room, he continued to watch hidden from view. The Russian gently pushed Alfred off him and held him by the shoulders, "Alfred, you still haven't answered me."

Alfred looked away from Ivan only for the Russian to move his head so he had to look at him. "Do you envy your brother Alfred?" Ivan said, Alfred couldn't tell if he was being serious or joking. "You're mine," Alfred said jealously, "not his." "I never agreed to that." Ivan said as he let go of Alfred and turned to leave.

Mathew watched silently as his father stepped closer to the quarrel, "Hold on Ivan," Arthur said as he grabbed the Russian's sleeve, "What do you want Arthur?" The Russian said slightly aggravated now. "My son can have anyone he wants, and that includes you." Mathew couldn't believe what his father had just said, it was as if... he cared about Alfred more. "Dad don't get into this." Alfred wined slightly, "It's to late for that Alfred, you got me involved in it now." Arthur said sternly.

"Alfred is right, you shouldn't get involved in his love life or he won't have one." Ivan said as he jerked his sleeve out of Arthur's hand. "You think I'm getting into this for his sake!" Arthur said angrily, "I'm doing this for Mattie." Mathew was in shock, "I need to protect him from you two," Arthur said as he looked at them both, "If he stays around either of you he'd have to handle more than he can cope with and I don't want that to happen to him." Mathew started to wonder if he should keep listening when someone ran over to Arthur.

"Captain! The brig is empty!" "We'll have to deal with this later." Arthur said as he grabbed a nearby lamp and ran towards the boarding planks, Alfred fallowed him. "Go get Mathew, we'll probably need every one on this." Arthur told his son. "I think Mattie might have something to do with this." Alfred blurted. "What do you mean?" Arthur stopped running and faced his son."I heard him and Ivan talking about something he was trying to do in the brig and Ivan knew Mattie was doing something." Alfred said as he started to realized what they were talking about. Arthur couldn't believe that one of his own children who he tried so hard to protect could do such a thing. He started to storm off towards Mathew's quarters, "Let's go find Mattie."

The five friends decided that since all five of them were on the boat they would try to escape. They all got the boat ready and were about to take off when Tino heard a splash come from the water near the pirates ship. He looked and saw Mathew swimming for their boat. "Guys don't leave yet," Tino yelled, "I need to go get someone."

Mathew knew that everyone would figure out that he had set the prisoners free and had decided to seek help from the only people he could. He made it half way to the Scandinavians' ship when he saw Tino coming for him in the life boat. "They're after us." Mathew said as Tino helped him into the boat. "We're ready to set sail as soon as I get back to the ship." Tino told Mathew, "You could come with us." "I don't really have a choice," Mathew admitted, "I've probably been labeled as a traitor by now, they'd kill me if I went back."


	5. Ghosts of Pirates past

No on on the pirates ship could find Mathew. Despite beeing feroius with him Arthur still felt worried. "Ivan," He called out, "Have you seen Mathew?" "I'm sorry, I haven't seen him." Ivan keept walking, "I'll help you look for him Da." "No, we can find him later," Arthur said, "we need to take back the other ship, prepare to board it."

Tino and Mathew reached the ship with ease and got ready to sail. Mathew was in shock when he found out there were five originally thought there were only four and that two of them had drown. Mathew was put below deck with Lukas who was still fixing his book and didn't notice him come in. Lukas started to sing while holding his hand over the empty book, "Magiglimtog glød, La dinmaktskinne, Gjørklokkenomvendt, Bringe tilbakedet som en gangvar min." The book floted in the air and a cold light spiraled around the book as Lukas continued, "Mendhva som er gjort, Endreskjebnerdesign, Lagredet som hargått tapt, Bringe tilbakedet som en gangvar mitt, Det som en gangvar min." The book fell and the light stopped. Lukas stood silently for a moment, then his legs gaveout. Mathew walk over to him. "Are you allright?" He asked as Lukas got up and took a few steps back. "Who are you and why are you here?" Lukas said as he picked up the book from the table and held it at his side.

"I'm Mathew," he said trying to be poliet, "we've met before but you were passed out at the time." "So you're a pirate." Lukas said as he prepared for a fight. "I used to be," Mathew said, "but not anymore. I was labled as a trator when I freed your friends." "What do you mean?" Lukas asked. "The tall guy with the glasses and the short one with the hat, they both got captured after you were thrown overboard." Lukas ran past Mathew andup the stairs. Hewas shocked to see stars in the sky. He though he had only been below deck for a few minuted but it turned out to have been hours.

The pirates ship started to come closer and closer but stopped only a few feet from being able to board the other ship. "Emil, Mathew," Lukas whispered, "go below deck, Matthias hide at the top of the stairs till I queue you." Everyone did as he said. He then leaned against the main mast hidden by shadows. Bernwald stood where he knew Arthur would board the ship at.

A single boarding plank connected the two ships. Arthur, Alfred, and Ivan came across it and stood a few feet from Bernwald. All of them stayed silent for a moment. Alfred broke the silence, "Where'd all your friends go." he said trying to get a rise out of the Swede. "You killed them," He said, "Tino drown as we tried to escape and Matthias fell into the water as we fought." "You know you're forgetting someone Da." Ivan as he remembered the one he threw overboard. Bernwald started to calmly walk over to some crates "I am... alone and yet... he still haunts me." he said as he sat on a crate. There was a small sound, like a small persons foot steps.

The steps echoed across the ship then stopped. Alfred lifted up his lamp which illuminated Lukas's wet face. Alfred and Arthur jumped back. Arthur lifted his lamp and saw nothing. Ivan heard something and lifted his lamp. All three of them were abled to see the Norwegian's face. Lukas opened his mouth and water fell out. Alfred was scared out of his wits, "Why are we still here we need to go!" He said as he turned to leave. They all heard something and Alfred stopped. Arthur started to shake as he heard someone... humming.

Alfred had enough of being on the creepy ship and tried to leave once again only to see the boarding plank burn and fall into the water almost taking him with it. Arthur had grabbed Alfred by his shirt and pulled him back. All three of the pirates turned their lamps on as high as they would go and saw Lukas leaning against the mast like he was earlier that day. He slowly lifted his book and began to read quietly to himself.

He stayed that way for a few minutes then tapped his foot lightly three times then looked at the stairs leading below deck. Three slow heavy footsteps came from the stairs and Matthias came into view his large heavy ax as well. "D-didn't they both d-drown?!" Alfred stammered as he saw that the two men's clothes were sopping wet. "Da. they did." Ivan said as he pulled out a long broken oar handle from where most pirates keep their swords. Arthur got out his sword and lifted it in the air. What was left of his crew started to place down more boarding planks and reluctantly started to charge the ship.

Lukas quickly chanted "Kom uthavet ogvise dissedårerdin makt!" As he said this the sea around their boats began tomove violently and shook some of the boarding planks loose along with the people on them. Arthur's dwindling crew was pissed. Those who did not fall in the water finally boarded the Scandinavians' ship. Bernwald quickly got up and pulled out his sword guarding the crows nest as Tino climbed down. Matthias guarded Lukas as well as he could till Bernwald and Tino could come help.

Lukas continued saying various spells while the others did their best to guard him. The pirate crew started getting smaller and smaller but were still coming close to over powering the Scandinavians. "close your eyes." Lukas said just loud enough for his fiends to hear. "Why!?" Matthias asked as he continued swinging his ax. "Just do it!" He shouted back before yelling, "Stjernervisemakt ogbrennedenne kvelden!" White lights fell from the sky and blinding most of the pirates and setting some of them a flame. Matthias started to open his eyes while this was happening, "Keep them closed!" Lukas yelled. A moment later he stomped his foot three times again and yelled, "Someone get Emil up here!" Matthias yelled down the stairs for him and he came with his sword drawn. The fighting did not continue for very long after that.

Arthur's small crew jumped ship after the lights blinded most of them. During the confusion though Ivan managed to grab Lukas and drag him below deck. He couldn't yell for help and was to weak to fight the Russian. "Where is Mattie?" Ivan asked as he set the small Norwegian down. "Why do you want to know where Matthias is, you just saw him." he said quietly. Ivan was bout to lose it, he was not in the mood for games. He was about to hit Lukas when he remembered that one of the Scandinavians was named Matthias. "Where is Mathew?"

Emil was the first one to notice that Ivan and Lukas were missing, "Things seem a little short handed around here." "No duh." Alfred sneered, "Who the bloody hell are you!?" Arthur said as he looked at Emil, he looked remarkably similar to Lukas. Alfred snickered and said "Bloody hell." under his breath. "Oh shut it Alfred and don't use that kind of language around Mathew." It was to late to take it back, Arthur had forgotten what Mathew had done and that he wasn't on their side.

"I don't know where he is," Lukas replied, "you'd have to ask my brother." Ivan smacked his head hard, "I'm not in the mood for games! Where's Mattie!" Lukas said nothing. Ivan heard a voice from up stairs and listened. "I'm Lukas's brother, you British bastard." Emil said in response to Arthur. Ivan quickly went up the stairs, "I need to borrow this." Ivan said as he grabbed Emil and dragged him down stairs.

Matthias went after Ivan once he realized that Emil and Lukas were both gone. He reached the bottom of the stairs and saw Ivan holding Emil my the collar. "I'm asking this once more and you're going to tell me Da." Emil nodded his head, "Where is Mathew?" As Ivan said this Matthias raised his ax and brought it down on the Russian. Ivan went down, he moved just in time to be missed by most of the ax but it still got him in the shoulder and part of his back.


	6. Recaptured

Mathew heard the Russian hit the floor and peeked out of his hiding place. Ivan was on his side grabbing his shoulder when Mathew ran over to him. "Ivan!" he shouted as he tried to move the large man into a sitting position.

Alfred heard Mathew from the top deck and ran past Tino who was closest to the stairs, "Stop you git!" Arthur yelled as he went after Alfred. When they reached the bottom of the stairs they saw Mathew trying to move Ivan upright. Emil was over by Lukas and Matthias was standing in a corner watching everything. Alfred quickly helped Mathew while Arthur got some sea water and a cloth. "Mattie why did you have to be so soft?" Alfred asked as he sat next to Ivan. "Because everyone else is to hard." Arthur came back with his supplies and helped clean and bandage Ivan's cut."I still need to talk to Mathew." Ivan said when Arthur finished bandaging him. "We'll leave for five minutes, but I doubt you're getting rid of them." Arthur said as he looked at the three Scandinavians in the room in particular the Norwegian. "Come on Alfred," He said as he offered to help him up, "let's go for a little bit."

Emil, Lukas, and Matthias were the only ones in the room besides Mathew and Ivan. "Mattie," Ivan said as he turned to face him, "none of the other crew members know that you set the prisoners free, Alfred and your father are the only ones that know." "Why are you telling me this Ivan?" Mathew said as he looked away from him. "I want you to go back with us, you want to as well Da." He shifted his gaze over to Lukas, "This is your chance." Matthew looked at Lukas as well and realized what he was saying. Ivan whispered to him, "Arthur will forgive you if you captured the little magician." Mathew had been part of a set up the whole time without even knowing it.

Ivan slowly got up trying to appear less threatening than he actually was and even asked Mathew for help getting up. Then Ivan started to stagger towards the stairs. When he passed Matthias he quickly pulled out his broken oar handle and hit him with it. Matthias hit the wall and slid down it some before reaching for his ax. Ivan picked him up and threw the Dane as far as he could. Matthias tried to get back up but was hit with the oar handle again. Mathew hid behind Emil who had stepped forward when Matthias was hit. Mathew picked up a small board, "I'm so sorry." He said, Emil turned to him "Wha-" Mathew hit Emil with the board which knocked him out.

"Good job Mattie." Ivan said as he stepped over Matthias and towards Mathew. Ivan picked Emil up and dropped him to make sure he was actually out and not just faking it. Mathew dropped the board and staggered back shaking a little. Ivan steadied Mathew, "Open your mouth," He said as he pulled out his vodka bottle, "this will help." He poured some of the liquid in Mathew's mouth then went over to Lukas, "Bottoms up!" Ivan said as he emptied the bottle into the Norwegian.

On the deck above Tino stood next to Bernwald who was resting on some crates. "Maybe we shouldn't have come here." Tino sighed, "Mmm." Bernwald was about to tell Tino that it wasn't his fault that things did not go right when he saw a hand cover Tino's mouth and dragged him back. "Hello there." Arthur said as Tino struggled to get out of his grasp. Bernwald got up and drew his sword only to be confronted by Alfred.

Ivan slung Lukas over his shoulder and went up the stairs with Mathew close behind. Arthur saw them come up the stairs and lost his grip on Tino who quickly climbed up to the crows nest. Arthur got close to the edge of the ship, signaled for a boarding plank then went over to Ivan and Mathew. "Ivan," Arthur said as he leaned in to whisper to him, "put them both in the brig." "Da. Captain." He said while he grabbed Mathews hand and started heading for their ship.

"Alfred!" Arthur yelled, "We're leaving, it isn't worth it any more." Alfred and Bernwald stopped fighting, Alfred went to his father and they both left the ship. Bernwald watched their ship get ready to sail then remembered that Ivan had gone below deck, he did not see him come back up. Tino climbed out of the crows nest and stood next to Bernwald. "Are they really leaving?" Tino asked as he watched the ship with Bernwald, "No, they're not, Ivan is still below deck." "He's still here?!" Tino said as he moved closer to Bernwald, "Yes."

Oh the pirates ship the crew was moving as fast as they could to get away from the Scandinavians and their ship. Ivan came back up from the brig as Arthur and Alfred boarded the ship. "Ivan!" Alfred shouted as he ran to hug him, "thought you were still on the other ship." "Nyet, I left the ship when you were fighting." He said as he hugged Alfred back. "You what?!" Alfred said as he shoved Ivan off. "Calm down Alfred," Arthur said, "I told him to leave so he could take care of something."

Tino and Bernwald saw Ivan and quickly ran below deck. They saw Matthias and Emil lying out cold on the floor. Tino ran to Emil and Bernwald ran to Matthias and they tried waking them up. When both regained consciousness they described what happened up to the point where they were knocked out. "Where's Lukas?" Matthias said as he looked at where he saw him last. All four ran up the stairs and looked for him. They finally realized... Lukas had been taken, and the pirate's ship was almost out of sight.

When Lukas awoke he knew he wasn't on the right ship. The first thing he did was see if his book was near him, when he could not find it he looked at his surroundings more carefully. He was in the smallest cell in the whole brig, but he wasn't the only one down there. Mathew was in the cell next to Lukas's, it was big enough to hold ten people, comfortably.

Mathew knew why he was placed in the overly large was to make him feel smaller and alone... it worked. He looked at the cell next to him and saw Lukas looking at him. " 'Used to be a pirate' was an understatement," Lukas said as he looked at Mathew. He finally saw similarities between Mathew and Arthur, as well as the punishment that he was being given. "You're the captain's son aren't you, 'Mattie'"

Lukas heard footsteps coming down the stairs. He mumbled something under his breath, put his hands over his face, and fell over limply. Mathew watched Lukas as he fell then looked to see who was coming. Alfred, Ivan, and Arthur came down the stairs. Alfred sat on a box near Mathew's cell. Ivan walked near Lukas's cell and tapped the bars before sticking his arm in and picking him up by the hair to see if he was still out. Lukas's body was limp as could be and fell to the floor when Ivan let go of him. Arthur sat on the steps with his head down. "Why did you have to do this Mathew?" Arthur said while still looking down, his face hidden from view, "I tried so hard."

Mathew crawled over to the front of the cell and put his hands on the bars, "I know I h-" Mathew was cut off, "How could you possibly know!" Arthur shouted with tears welling up in his eyes. "I heard what you told Alfred and Ivan earlier," He paused as he saw everyone's head turn towards him, "I didn't know how much you've protected me until tonight." Arthur walked over to his son's cell and placed his head on the bars, "I hopped you would never have to find out."


	7. Let's have a good old chat

"Captain!" A voice shouted from the top of the stairs, "The Scandinavians are gaining on us!" Alfred Quickly got up, "I've got this." He said while running up the stairs. "No you don't you git." Arthur mumbled as he walked towards the stairs and looked back at Mathew once more then stayed near Lukas's cell and watched them both for a few minutes. He checked to see if Lukas was still out then left.

Mathew still hung on to the bars and almost started crying when he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. He saw Lukas sitting with his back against the wall staring at him. "Why are you looking at me like that?" Mathew asked squirming some. "There's a saying I was just thinking about," Lukas said while moving closer he whispered, " 'You hold the keys to your own freedom' " Mathew looked down and saw... his keys! Ivan had forgotten Mathew was one of the three people onboard that had keys to the brig!

Mathew tried all the keys on the door. None of them opened it. "I gave one of the cell keys to Bernwald." Mathew said as he sunk to the floor, "Here," Mathew gave the keys to Lukas, "I should at least give you a chance." Lukas took the keys, the first one he tried worked. Lukas quickly took the keys out and gave them to Mathew, "Someone's coming." He mumbled again and passed out.

Arthur stomped down the stairs and opened Mathew's cell. "Get up," He said as he grabbed Mathew's arm and pulled him out of the cell. Arthur moved Mathew to another cell and set him down, "Close your eyes and cover your ears." Arthur locked the door and went back to Lukas's cell. Mathew wished he would have listed to his father.

Arthur opened Lukas's cell and dragged him to where Mathew had been a few moments ago. "Time to wake up!" Arthur said as he kicked Lukas in the stomach. Mathew's jaw dropped in shock. Lukas did not move. Arthur kneeled down and picked him up by the collar then let go letting Lukas fall limply to the floor. Arthur pulled out a piece of paper and stared tracing shapes from it on Lukas's chest then pressed it hard. Lukas's pass out spell was broken and he was forced to be conscious again. Mathew couldn't believe it, did his father just use magic!

"What do you want Arthur." Lukas said propped himself up off the floor. "I want you to tell me how you got ahold of a anglajand where it is." Arthur said grabbing him by the collar again and drawing his sword close to his face. "That book wasn't a anglaj," Lukas said as he moved the sword away, "It's a Norsk spell book, I wrote it myself." Mathew's eyes widened, he had picked up Lukas's book when Ivan wasn't looking and hid it in his cell. "You lie." Arthur said as he moved the sword back to Lukas's face, "Where is it." "I don't know where it is." Lukas said moving the sword away from him again, "And you won't know either." Lukas mumbled something and passed out again.

Mathew kept watching as Arthur stood up and kicked Lukas again before reviving him like he did earlier. "Quit waking me up." Lukas said as he turned over and vomited. "If you want me to stop quit going to sleep!" Arthur shouted. "Your being like Matthias, always bothering me till I make you go away." Lukas clutched his abdomen and tried to stand up. Arthur kneed Lukas in the stomach and threw him to the ground. "There's a difference between me and this 'Matthias' " Arthur said as he circled Lukas and kicked his back, "I don't care about your physical well being." Arthur picked Lukas up and put him back in his cell, "You can die here for all I care." He said as he shackled Lukas to one of the bars and started walking away. Lukas chuckled, "You do care about my physical state," Arthur turned around some, "without me you can't find the book." "I found it once on my own, I can find it again." Arthur said sternly. "It destroyed it's self when you touched it, that's why you threw it overboard once you opened it." Arthur walked over and kicked the bars closest to Lukas, "Shut it wanker." Arthur turned to leave again.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Lukas leered as he twirled Arthurs key ring around his index finger. Arthur felt where his keys used to be and found nothing there. Arthur reached for them but Lukas moved them into his mouth. "Come and get them." He said through his teeth as he leaned out of Arthurs reach. "I'm not in the mood for this!" Arthur said still tying to get his keys. Ivan and Alfred came in since they had sorted every thing out above deck and were both shocked at what they saw.

"How does it feel to be outsmarted by, what did you call me earlier? A 'mouthy concubine'." Lukas said as he moved farther away. Arthur had to go into Mathew's original cell in order to reach Lukas. When he went in Lukas kicked the cell door shut and tossed the keys out of Arthurs reach. Arthur pulled Lukas over to him by his collar, "Give them back!" Arthur growled as he looked the Norwegian in the eyes. Out of the corner of his eye he saw something move, Lukas had his boot through the center of the key ring and was gangling the keys out of Arthurs reach.

Both Alfred and Mathew's jaws dropped as they tried to remain quiet. Ivan walked down the remaining stairs clapping slowly and evenly. "I get to play now Da." Ivan said as he took the keys from the Norwegian. "You can if you want to," Lukas said as he offered his shackledhandsto Ivan. "Would someone get me the bloody hell out of here!" Arthur sneered, "Perhaps another time Da." Ivan said as he unlocked the cell. When Arthur got out he kicked at the Norwegian again and swore as he walked off and saw Alfred, "Awe bloody hell!" "You still forgot something Arthur." Lukas jeered this time. "His dignity?" Alfred blurted then snickered. Arthur hit him upside the head, "What did I forget this time you skank." he said as he walked back over, "Something very important, you have two so I don't blame you for not remembering." Lukas said as he sat up some. Alfred blurted, "His bal-" "ALFRED F. JONES!" Arthur shouted, "Both of you are really close." Lukas said as he looked across the room at something.

Mathew quickly covered his ears and closed his eyes just before Arthur looked over at him. "Holy hell I almost forgot Mathew!" Arthur ran over to him and pulled toMathewhis feet. Mathew opened his eyes and let go of his ears as he was led back to his cell. As Mathew was put back in the cell Alfred saw his keys. "Hold up," he said as he walked over to the cell, "You forgot something else as well." he said while taking Mathew's keys. as he held them up Arthur pointed something out, "There's only eleven keys." "Mattie gave one of his keys to the last prisoner." Ivan reminded them. All three left shortly after.

"What hell was that about!" Mathew yelled, "Sorry for yelling." "I'll tell you later," Lukas said as he repositioned himself so he could see Mathew better, "How much of that did you hear, I know you weren't covering your ears." "I heard most of it." Mathew said as he looked away, "I'm sorry if he hurt you." "That's not important right now, I need you to hand me my book." Mathew went over to where he hid the book. "Here," He said handing the book to Lukas, "what are you going to do with it?" "I'm slowing down the ship." Lukas said as he started chanting something Mathew could not make out but sounded familiar. "You've heard that before haven't you." Lukas said when he saw a look cross Mathew's face, "My father used it as a lullaby when I was little."


	8. Passage through time

"Captain! The ship is caching up to us!" "Then go faster you gits!" Arthur replied to his crew man, "We can't go any faster! There's no wind and there aren't enough men for the oars!" "Figure something out then!" Arthur yelled as he started to notice it wasn't the ship moving slower, it was everyone. He quickly ran down the stairs to the brig, he knew who was behind this.

Lukas tried to close the book and hide it but he was not fast enough. Arthur saw the book in his hands and took the book from Lukas while chanting something that made time return to normal. "Now then, let's have a look at this." Arthur opened the book, it was empty again. He flipped though the pages and saw nothing. "Wait, I saw something." Mathew said as he reached out and touched the book. "No." Lukas said as he tried to take the book from Arthur. A cold, pale, blue light came out of the book and floated over Lukas. Arthur opened the light came out and words started to appear on the pages then were gone in an instant. Lukas opened his mouth, the light went in, and the book went pale and passed out soon after.

Lukas woke a few hours later with his hands re-shackled and Ivan sitting outside of his cell. "Dobroyeutro," (Good morning) he said smiling as he handed Lukas some food and water, "Arthur seems a little more interested in keeping you alive now." Ivan said as he sat down. Lukas did not want to eat yet, especially with Ivan watching him. "Where's Mathew?" Lukas asked while looking at the empty cell next to him. "He's out now, Arthur's crew started to wonder why he was in there so Arthur let him out." They both sat quietly for a few minutes. Ivan noticed that Lukas had not eaten his food, "Are you not hungry?" He asked while pulling a burnt scone closet to him. Lukas said nothing and shifted away from the Russian. "Do you want to play?" Ivan asked cheerfully. "What did you have in mind?" Lukas scooted closer putting his hands on the bars as he looked at Ivan. Lukas did not like the look that crossed his face.

Ivan unlocked the cell and un-shackled Lukas, "Spin the bottle." He said as he unlocked the largest cell and went in with Lukas. He re shackled Lukas and put the keys out of his reach. "How do you play?" Lukas asked as he walked around Ivan. "We take turns spinning a bottle," He placed a vodka bottle on the floor and span it, "and you take two steps the direction the top is pointing at, whoever gets to the other person first wins." "What do they win?" Lukas asked as he clicked his shackles together. "Whatever they want." Ivan said with a grin "It's one of my favorite games." the then span the bottle.

Ivan was able to take huge steps due to his size, which gave him an unfair advantage. Lukas could only take small steps because of his shackles. Ivan won twice and saved his prize requests for later, Lukas won once. "What do you want me to do?" Ivan smirked thinking Lukas would request to be freed, "I want you," Lukas paused as he got closer to the Russian whose back was to Lukas's small cell, he slowly reached down and picked up a book, "to throw this overboard," he said, handing Ivan the book "Without looking. Got it." "Da." Ivan said as he transferred Lukas back to his cell. "I'll throw it without looking."

"Wait!" Lukas shouted as Ivan walked up the stairs and did not turn around. Mathew walked in a few minutes later with some food that actually looked edible and passed some to Lukas. "Sorry I wasn't here when you woke up, I got let out," he leaned in and whispered, "they're watching me." Lukas quickly looked around, "Take this and burn it." he said as he handed Mathew a bunch of torn up paper. "Wh-" Lukas cut Mathew off, "Do it quickly." "Alfred's waiting upstairs to search me though." Mathew protested, "Put it in your back pockets, he's your brother so I doubt he'll touch your rump." Mathew went back upstairs.

"I don't get why you have to be so friendly with prisoners." Alfred said while searching Mathew. Lukas was right, he did not check the back pockets. Alfred escorted Mathew to his quarters where he had been confined to so the crew would stop asking why he was in the brig. On there way to his quarters they passed Arthur and Ivan.

Ivan handed Arthur the book. "Where did you get this?" Arthur said while stroking the cover, "I lost a game," Ivan replied with a smirk, "but it looks like I won Da." "Looks like it." Arthur said as he opened the book. It was hallowed out and filled with straw. "Bloody hell." Arthur said as he saw Alfred and Mathew walk by, Mathew's pockets were bulging slightly. "Alfred," Arthur called as his son turned around some, "Yeah?" he said. "How well did you search Mathew's pockets?" Arthur continued.

"Pretty well," Alfred said. "What about the back pockets?" Arthur said as he stepped forward some. "I can't check their! It's gross!" Alfred protested. "I could check them Da." Ivan said as he reached towards Mathews rear. "Back off Ivan!" Arthur and Alfred said in unison. "You want to check them then Arthur?" Ivan asked as he withdrew his hand. "Are you crazy, I'm not a Frenchman! I can't just grab my sons rear!" Mathew bolted. He was not going to listen to Arthur insult Francis, he spent most of his early childhood with that man and he never made a pass at him or tried to do anything inappropriate what so ever. He ran into his quarters and closed the door while jamming a chair under the knob. He quickly pulled out the papers and placed them in his cup before he lit a match and burned them. Ivan broke the door open letting Arthur and Alfred in as the last page turned to ash.

"Mattie, why did you run?" Alfred said not noticing the ashes in Mathew's cup, "Je ne pouvais pas supporter d'entendre mon père Arthur manque de respect, pas plus!" (I couldn't stand to hear Arthur disrespect my father any more!) Mathew cried as he fell to his knees sobbing. Arthur stomped over to Mathew, "If there was anything you learned from him it was how to be a lying, pitiful bastard." Arthur knocked the cup of ash to the floor, "You should be grateful I even took you in. If it weren't for your brother... I" Arthur turned to leave the room, "I would've left you with that frog to do as he pleased with you." Arthur turned to Ivan, "Put him back in the brig with is friend." Then he left the room.

Alfred secretly fallowed as Mathew was taken to the brig. Ivan searched Mathew and placed him in a small cell like Lukas's. "You get to spend more time with your friend Da." Ivan said as he shackled Mathew's foot to a bar and then left. Alfred hid behind a crate so the Russian would not see him then went over to Mathew a few minutes later. "Mattie," Alfred whispered as he snuck over to Mathew's cell where his brother lay slumped over his knees crying. "Whoa! What's wrong!?" Alfred said as he tried to touch Mathew who scooted out of his reach.

"Is what Arthur said true?" Mathew said as he turned to face Alfred, "Did he really take me from my father just to make you happy?" Mathew's hair covered his face but Alfred could still see tears rolling down his face. Alfred wanted to cry two. "I... I don't know, I never asked. I was just glad to have you back." Alfred saw Mathew scoot further away from him and noticed the shackles for the first time, he heard Ivan doing something in Mathew's cell but he didn't know what. "I wasn't meant for this Alfred," Mathew said as he stat up resting his back against the bars, "I was forced into this life by everyone around me." Mathew's head sunk to his chest, "I've done things that go against everything I believe." Alfred started to remember times when he saw Mathew just stand quietly when everyone else was doing something then be forced to join in. Alfred wanted to say something but could not find the words. He saw Mathew's head go up, "Someone's coming."


	9. Decisions

Alfred quickly hid behind the crates again and tried to be silent. Arthur came down the stairs to the brig. He stood in the middle of the room looking from aide to side at Mathew and Lukas. His eyes finally rested on Lukas. "Mathew, close your eyes and cover your ears." Arthur head snapped over to Mathew, "For real this time."

Alfred peaked around the crate and saw Arthur un-shackle Lukas and throw him in the largest cell in the brig. Arthur un hooked his keys from his belt and Alfred heard him whistle. A small mouse appeared at his feet and he gave it the keys. Arthur and Lukas both just stood there for a while and said nothing.

"Do you want to play a game Lukas?" Arthur said as he set a bottle on the floor and span it. "Why couldn't you and your friends just surrender your ship quietly?!" Arthur said as he took two steps closer to Lukas. The bottle was span again. "Things may have gone different if you talked to me and not Matthias." Lukas took a step back. "I thought we could've been friends after this but I suppose not." Lukas's back hit the bars as he took his second step back. "Why would we be friends after this?" Arthur stepped to the side. "You wouldn't believe how I met Matthias." Lukas said stepping forward, "It was a lot like this."

The two of them continued to play and talk until their game reached a stalemate. "Do you have any family?" Arthur asked stepping closer to Lukas. "Only my little brother. What about you?" Lukas said stepping closer to Arthur. "Yes, fractured as it maybe." Arthur took the last two steps towards Lukas ending the game. "It started falling apart once you came."

"You've caused me and my family a lot of problems." Arthur said grabbing Lukas by his collar. "Now that you made Mathew destroy your book I have no use for you." He pulled him closer, "Accept to watch you wither away in my brig as entertainment." Arthur shoved Lukas away and whistled for the mouse again. It did not come.

Arthur looked about the room for his keys and saw the mouse leaving Mathew's cell. Mathew was holding Arthur's keys. "I guess you were right Lukas. I hold the keys to my own freedom," He paused and chuckled. "And yours as well." Alfred could not believe it, Mathew was standing up for himself. His hand slipped and knocked a small crate to the floor. "Alfred!" Arthur shouted, "When the bloody hell did you get their!" The look on Alfred's face said it all. "I fallowed Ivan down here." Arthur looked over at Mathew again. "I thought I told you to close your eyes and ears." A huge grin stretched across Mathew's face. "Je ne parle pas anglais." (I don't speak English)

"Don't try and pull that with me you cocky little bastard!" Arthur started stomping towards Mathew and almost ran into the cell door. Both Alfred and Lukas tried not to laugh. "Ne me parle pas comme ça, tu gosseanglais." (Don't talk to me like at you English brat) He said while gangling Arthur's keys. "For cripes sake. Alfred get the keys from Mathew." Arthur said as he face palmed himself. "I'm sorry Mattie." Alfred started heading over to Mathews cell. Mathew got up and Alfred stopped walking. "Je suis désolé deux" (I'm sorry two) Mathew stuck the key to Arthur's cell into his cells keyhole and broke it off in the lock.

"Matthew Williams! Avez-vous perdu votre esprit sanguinaire!" (Have you lost your bloody mind!) Arthur yelled. Despite his hatred for the language Arthur had learned French when he was with Francis. Mathew dropped the keys to the floor. Alfred's jaw dropped, "You speak French!" Mathew started to shake. "Voussonnait comme lui." (You sounded just like him) Mathew almost collapsed to the ground. "Mattie!" Both Arthur and Alfred shouted as Alfred ran over to his cell. All the commotion in the brig started to peak the crew's interest and many of them snuck down to see what was happening.

"What happened?" Ivan asked as he looked around the room. Lukas grinned, "Mathew just stood up for himself." There was a small murmuring among the crew. They were all curios how the prisoner knew Mathew by name and why their captain was in a cell with him. "Shut the hell up!" Arthur yelled as he punched Lukas in the face. They both fought each other as the crew cheered. Ivan and Alfred watched for a bit before Alfred turned back to Mathew who was... grinning. "I though you were against fighting Mattie." Alfred said teasingly. "This isn't a fight. It's self defense." Mathew stopped grinning, "D-" Alfred cut him off. "I won't tell." Alfred said smiling.

The fight ended quickly since neither could use magic. There was no clear cut winner. "So what else happened?" Ivan asked again. "Mattie broke the key to their cell off in his lock." Alfred said while pointing at the broken lock and key. "You can just get another key Da." Ivan said as he turned away from Mathew. "He can't," Lukas almost laughed, "Mathew gave that key to Bernwald and that one is broken." "Don't you have keys Alfred?" Ivan asked while looking at Alfred's belt. "He does but he lost some of his keys years ago." Arthur responded as he rested his head on the bars. "Yeah, that's one of the ones I lost." Alfred said scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. "Je suppose que vous êtes coincé," (I guess you're stuck) Mathew said as he mad himself comfortable in his cell, "nous aurons à passer un peu delà «qualité» du temps ensemble maintenant." (we'll get to spend some 'quality' time together now.)

"Why the hell aren't you guys working?!" Arthur barked as noticed his crew. They quickly disbanded and went back to their work. Alfred and Ivan stayed in the brig. "I always knew things would end up like this." Ivan said as he sat down and looked dreamily at Arthur. "I didn't know it would come so soon though." He pulled out his oar handle and got up. "What cha doin' Ivan." Alfred asked as he became more alert. "If the captain can't perform his duty," Ivan said as he knocked Arthurs hat to the floor. "And his first mate can't either," he pulled out Mathew's keys and twirled them on his finger. "Then the second mate," Ivan picked Arthur's hat up off the floor with his oar handle. "Is in command." he said tossing the hat in front of Alfred.

"Put it on." Ivan urged him. Alfred hesitantly put it on. "There's a catch though." Ivan said as he wandered around the room gently swinging his oar handle then walked towards Alfred. "The second mate is to low of a rank to captain the ship by himself." Ivan put his arm around Alfred, "He has to share his power with the third mate." He squeezed Alfred a little bit as he said this and knocked his hat to the side some. "This will be fun Da."

"Hey," Arthur did not like where Ivan just went. "Stuff like that may float in the Pacific Ocean but this is the Atlantic. We play by English rules here." "I'm sorry comrade but you seem to forget. Most of your crew was English when we left port but the ones who remain are Russian." Ivan was smiling, "It doesn't matter what ocean it is. Russians are Russians."

Alfred wiggled out of Ivan's grasp and took off the captains hat he had seen his father with since he's earliest memories. "What if I don't want this?" He turned the hat a few times not sure if it was real. "Then the first crew member to fight you for it becomes the captain if he wins." Ivan's hand tightened around the oar handle. "I will fallow you in any decision you make." He said as he went over to Alfred and put his hand on his shoulder. "Captain." Alfred started to shake some. "I need to be alone." He left the brig with the hat still in his hands.


	10. Memory Lane

On the Scandinavians ship things weren't going any better. The four of them had to sail their ship a person short which made the work harder and longer. During time when they could rest Emil and Matthias could not stay still. "It's like he knew this would happen," Emil said as he anxiously walked around, "he pestered me to call him 'big brother' and even said 'both of us might not come back'." "I'm sure he'll be fine." Matthias said tying to reassure both him and Emil. "We both saw how well he can handle himself." "That's what worries me." Emil said finally holding still. "He used to do stuff like that when we were little." He saw Matthias's eyes widen. "On a smaller scale of course." Matthias heard this and started to remember how he met Lukas.

"Give it back!" A small Emil yelled as he chased after someone quite a bit larger than him. "Make me!" Matthias said while holding an egg and running from Emil. Lukas slowly fallowed the two of them. He seriously wished this punk would leave his little brother alone but he could not do much about it. He always fallowed the two of them incase he large boy did anything harmful to his brother.

"Lu! He won't give Mr. Puffin back." Emil wined as he sat at the base of a large tree. "You have to come get it." A voice said from inside the tree. Lukas looked up at the voice and saw that annoying kid. Matthias almost fell out of the tree when Lukas looked at him. He remembered thinking that was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Matthias was blushing as he climbed out of the tree. Emil snatched his egg back as Matthias hid shyly behind the tree trunk.

"Go home." Lukas said as he looked at his little brother and the kid behind the tree. After a moment he turned to leave. Matthias gently tugged Lukas's cloak then hid behind the tree again. Lukas turned some but figured out what happened and continued to leave.

The next day Matthias climbed the same tree so he could find Emil and his big 'sister'. He did not see either of them and was about to climb down when he saw someone sitting under the base of the tree. They were reading a book and it looked like they started to fall asleep.

Matthias quietly climbed down after a few minutes making sure whoever it was would not wake up when he climbed down. When he looked to see who it was he started blushing. He did not know what to do. He thought about watching 'her' sleep or maybe seeing what 'she' was reading. He finally decided to read the book. He wished he could read it better but the words did not look right. Their were a lot of pictures so he had a general idea of what was happening. It was a fairytale about a girl who fell asleep under a tree and woke up to find her true love sleeping in the branches above her. This gave Matthias an idea. He grabbed the nearest flower and stuck it on the page where the girl woke up. He then climbed back into the tree and waited.

When Lukas woke up he saw that he had lost his page. After awhile he noticed a flower in his book. He turned to the page and saw the picture. He looked around to see if anyone was watching then looked up in the tree and saw a foot. He got to his feet and stumbled back nearly tipping over his own feet. Matthias had accidently fallen asleep while he waited but was full awake now.

He almost fell out of the tree but he made it work for him. He hung himself upside down like the other picture he saw. "Hey." He said as he looked Lukas in the eyes and smiled. "Darned fairies." Lukas said as he started walking away. He stopped when he heard something shake the tree and fall to the ground. He saw Matthias lying on his back while rubbing his head. Lukas did not realized what had really happened until later.

Lukas continued to read stories under the tree despite his strange encounter with the annoying boy. Matthias continued reading the stories when Lukas fell asleep then would climb back up the tree when Lukas started to wake up. This went on for weeks until Matthias decided to find out where the 'girl' he liked lived.

He waited about two days then decided to try and get Lukas's attention. He decided to go up to Emil while he was playing. "Hey," He said smiling and trying to be friendly but when you do that to someone you normally teas it does not end well. Emil quickly jumped to his feet and started running. "Hey, wait up!" Matthias said running after him.

Emil could not out run him since he was small and was caught easily. "I just wanted to talk to you." Matthias said as he let go of Emil, "I wanted to talk to your sister." "I don't have a sister!" Emil said trying to run again. "Don't lie to me," Matthias said as he faced Emil towards him. "Take these to her and tell her to meet me at the tree where we met." Matthias started blushing then ran off.

Emil went back home after his strange encounter. "Where did you run off to?" Lukas asked when he saw Emil come back. "That boy who took Mr. Puffin chased me and gave me these." Emil handed a small bouquet of flowers to Lukas. "He said to give them to my sister." Lukas did not say anything. "He said something about meeting under a tree." Lukas's eyes widened as he realized the flowers were the same as the one he found in his book when he met that weirdo in the tree. "That kid is so annoying. Stay here." Lukas said as he grabbed a book and went to the tree.

Matthias was already in the tree when Lukas showed up. He hung upside down from the tree like he did before. "Hey." He said as Lukas flipped him out of the tree onto the ground. "Get him Lukas!" Emil cheered. "I thought I told you to stay over at the house." Lukas said as he turned Emil back in the direction of their house.

"What was that about?" Matthias asked as he sat up some. "Who are you?" Lukas asked as he watched Matthias pick up the book and open it. "Don't touch my book." Lukas said as he pulled it out of Matthias's hands. The book was on the page with the girl meeting a guy under a tree. Lukas looked at the picture and quickly shut the book.

"I'm Matthias." He said as he stood up, "Are you Lu?" he asked looking Lukas over. "My little brother calls me that. My name is Lukas." Matthias went pale, "You're a guy!?" He stumbled back some. "This has got to be a joke." They both said at the same time. They both heard someone snickering. "Emil go back to the house or I'll turn Mr. Puffin into an egg again." Lukas said as he saw Emil shuffle off.

Matthias got an Idea to see if Lukas was really a boy. He picked up a flower and handed it to him. Lukas instantly pulled the top of the flower off and threw it at Matthias's face. "You really are a guy." He said as he saw Lukas turning and start walking away.

Matthias tried to avoid Lukas for as long as he could while picking on Emil. A part of him wanted Lukas to catch him picking on his little brother but another part wanted to stop. "LUKAS!" Emil screamed as he ran from Matthias. Lukas looked up from his book to see his little brother get picked up and thrown in a lake. He quickly ran over and dived in after him. Once he got him out of the water he stomped over to Matthias.


	11. Back to the 'real' world

"What were you thinking!" Lukas said as he started choking Matthias with his coat strings. "He's only seven years old he can't swim yet!" As Lukas yelled Matthias saw something coming out of the lake. "…Selma..." Lukas whispered as the snake-like creature started swimming towards them. "RUN!" Lukas yelled as he ran over to where he had left Emil. Matthias just stared at the creature coming towards the shore.

Lukas helped Emil to his feet then grabbed his hand and lead him away from the lake. Lukas saw Matthias just standing their. "Keep running!" He told Emil as he ran back to the lake. The creature was within a few feet of the shore when it lifted its head and a small portion of its body out of the water. Lukas ran over to Matthias and pushed him away from the water as the creature came as close as it could to the shore.

"Gå tilbake!" Lukas yelled as he threw his hand out and a bright light flew at the creature. It quickly retreated from the blinding light and went back to the depths."I hope you're happy." Lukas said as he left Matthias on the ground near the shore. "It's going to take her years to get over that."

Fifteen years later Matthias still did not understand why or how but Lukas saved his life that day. He could have just ran into the forest with Emil and not looked back but he did. Matthias secretly hoped he would never have to repay Lukas for saving his life. He knew there was always a chance it would happen and if it did he would be knew Lukas would be fine because even back then he knew exactly what to do.

Alfred had gone to his quarters and locked the door. "I'm not ready for this." He mumbled to himself as he walked about the room. "Are you all right Alfred?" Ivan asked through the door. Alfred went to the door and let Ivan in. "I don't think I can do this Ivan." He said as he slumped in a chair. "It's not like you're going to be doing this alone Da," Ivan said as he walked behind Alfred's chair and put his hands on Alfred's shoulders. "I'm here." Alfred sighed some. "That's what I'm not ready for."

A few hours passed before Alfred and Ivan came out of Alfred's quarters. When they came out though Alfred was wearing the captain's hat and Ivan fallowed close behind him. They both went back down to the brig. Alfred went over to Mathew's cell to pick up the keys he had left. When Alfred bent over he winced in pain. Mathew noticed that he was a little red. He looked passed Alfred and saw Ivan's eyes widen some and a small smile stretch across his face as this happened.

Mathew had seen something like this before when he was little. He remembered seeing Francis and Arthur come out of Arthur's room. Francis looked like he was blushing and Arthur had a grin on his face. Francis went over to Mathew to pick him up and winced in pain when he bent over like Alfred did. Apparently Mathew was not the only one remembering this at the time. He saw a look of shock and realization come across Arthur's face before he almost fell over.

Alfred got the keys and used one of them to unlock Mathew's shackles. "Even though you're down here you still deserve some dignity." He said while removing the shackle from Mathew's foot. "I still can't believe I agreed to this." He mumbled under his breath as he got up and handed the keys to Ivan. "You enjoyed it Da." Ivan said as he put his arm around Alfred and they both left the brig.

"I feel sick." Alfred said as he staggered towards the side of the ship. Ivan fallowed and tired to steady Alfred but was pushed away. "It's like Mattie could tell what we did." He said as he put his fore arms on the railing at the edge of the ship. He could hear a crewman in the back ground. "Ok everyone all bets are closed we just have to wait now." Alfred started to figure out what the crew was betting on and felt even sicker. "Alfred?" Ivan asked as he stepped closer. Alfred started to shake some."Don't worry Alfred you'll get used to it." Ivan said as he helped Alfred sit down. "It's just a game."

Once Alfred and Ivan had left the brig Mathew had started to giggle. "What's so funny?" Arthur asked as he tried to get a better view of Mathew. He was lifting the cell door and pulling the pins from the hinges. "Je ne pouvais pas atteindre la porte," (I couldn't reach the door,) he said while moving the door aside, "mais maintenant je ne peux." (but now I can.)

Mathew fixed the cell door then left the brig. Once Arthur realized what was happening he started yelling and tying to get someone to come down to the brig. No one herd him. He decided to got to his quarters since no one would be there. He put a chair in front of the door. The handle and knob were messed up from the last time he was in there but the chair kept it closed.

Mathew looked around the room and tried to find a disguise. He found an eye patch, a bandana, and some clothes he had never worn before. He picked up the ash off the floor and spread it on himself so he looked like he had been working. When he was sure no one could recognize him he left the room.

Mathew went passed the brig and herd Arthur still yelling. He decided to do something risky but knew if he pulled it off he would be in the clear. "Oi, what's all this then?" Mathew said in an Australian accent. He could not use an English or Russian accent because neither group would recognize him and would be suspicious. He knew the Australians would not care who he was.

"You there," Arthur said, "Go get Alfred!" "Who?" Mathew said. Only people in higher ranks knew Alfred by name so he decided to hide in the lower ranks so no one would notice him. "The new captain!" Arthur yelled. Of all the people he had to deal with it had to be what looked like a cabin boy. Mathew ran off.

Mathew looked for a while and found Alfred. "Captain!" Mathew yelled. Ivan had to turn Alfred around since he still was unaccustomed to being called captain. "What is it." Alfred asked as he saw the crew man who got his attention. "Some one in the brig told me to come get you." Mathew said sort of shocked that Alfred did not recognize him but was also relived. "We should go down there Da." Ivan said as he started walking. Alfred fallowed him and motioned for the crew man to fallow him as well.

When the three of them made it to the brig the first thing Alfred noticed was that Mathew's cell was empty. Alfred ran over to the cell with Lukas and his father in it and turned his attention towards Lukas. "What the bloody hell did you do with my brother!" Alfred yelled. "Alfred! Language!" Arthur nagged even though there were more important matters at hand. "I didn't do anything." Lukas said in a clam voice.

"Where's Mathew!?" Alfred asked again. "He pulled the pins out of the hinges and escaped." Arthur explained, "I tried to get someone to come down here and that cabin boy was the first person to come by." Mathew was standing next to the stairs. "He's the one who told me to go find you." He said still using his accent. "We should look for Mathew Da." Ivan said as he walked over to the cabin boy, "Don't tell the rest of the crew about this," Ivan put his hand on his broken oar handle, "Got it." Mathew nodded trying not to look as scared as he felt. They all went up the stairs and looked for Mathew.

After looking for a while they took a break. "What's your name any way?" Alfred asked the cabin boy. "My name's," Mathew had to think something up fast that he could remember, "Perth." Mathew knew Perth was a city or town in Australia and he could remember it because his father was from Paris. "I thought you sounded Australian." Ivan said as he drank some vodka. "I'm sorry," Alfred said laughing some, "I though you were British." Even though Alfred had a British accent but he still had trouble telling them apart. Perth laughed, "It's funny a Russian can tell the difference between Australian and British but an English man can't." The three of them continued with their then continue to look for Mathew.


	12. The plot thickens

The search went on for most of the day and into the early part of the night before every one assumed that Mathew jumped ship and went to the Scandinavians. Alfred kept Perth close to him. He did not want to be alone with Ivan any more. Ever since he had become captain Ivan rarely left his side and not in a good way. Ivan seemed to become more hostile. Alfred could tell something was being kept from him.

It was around midnight when everyone decided to go to bed. Alfred started to head towards his quarters but Ivan turned him around and walked him to the captain's quarters and went in with him. "You think yourself the captain Da." Ivan said making sure Alfred could not leave the room. "I..." Alfred did not know what to say. He knew if he said yes it would be a lie and if he said no... he was not sure what would happen to him. Ivan sat next to Alfred waiting for him to answer. "I think of myself for what I am." Alfred said as he turned out the lamp and went to bed. Ivan did not leave the room like Alfred had expected. "Dumayte o sebe , kakvybudete , iyadumayu, chtobudu o vas." (Think of yourself as you will and I will think what I will of you.) Alfred felt very uneasy when Ivan said this even though he could not tell what he said it was the way it was said that frightened him. "Spispokoyno." (Sleep well.) Ivan said as he finally left the room.

Mathew considered sleeping in his quarters but decided not. If someone saw him sleeping there they would know that Perth was just an alias. He went to the cargo bay and moved some crates so he could sleep their until he figured out a more permanent solution. Before he went to sleep he remembered he wanted to talk to Lukas and see if he could help him blend in better with a spell or something. He went down to the brig and made sure Arthur was asleep before he approached the cell.

"Lukas," He whispered, "Lukas." Mathew inched closer to the cell. "Who's there." Lukas whispered back. "A friend." Mathew said as he stepped close enough for Lukas to see him. "You're quite the escape artist." Lukas said starting to figure out who he was talking to. "I need your help." Mathew said, "I need to blend in more. I can't do it by myself." "I think you can, you don't give yourself enough credit. I barley recognize you myself." "Do you have anything that will help me be less noticeable though?" Mathew asked as he backed up incase Arthur woke up. "I'm sorry there's nothing I can do you'll just have to lay low." Mathew agreed and left the brig as fast as he could.

Mathew went back down to the cargo bay and went to sleep only to be woken up by people talking.

{Italics are in Russian}

_"How is everything going Comrade Ivan?" _A crew member asked. _"Everything is falling in place. This will all be ours Da."_ Ivan spread out his arms as he said this. _"Does the captain know of your plans?" _Another crew member asked leaning close to Ivan. _"He knows nothing." _Ivan snapped at the man who had gotten to close to him. _"The whole family is so corrupt except for Mathew." _Ivan was genuinely saddened by the choices Mathew had made but knew he could not focus on that now. _"Which one was 'Mathew' " _One of the lower ranked crew members asked. _"A traitor among his own people and family."_ A crew member had said.

_"Enough!" _Ivan had to refrain from yelling. _"Mathew was the captain's younger son. The one could actually cook." _At the mention of this much of the crew continued, _"He is one of the few people I trust despite his decisions."How can we trust you if you trust a traitor?" _A voice near the edge of the group said snidely. _"Mathew is not a traitor. He has the heart of a Russian under his weak exterior." _The few crew members who knew him agreed. _"Things have changed some and everyone who still wants to go through with this better be ready to do their part."_

_"As many of you know the key to our problem is broken." _Ivan made hand gestures as he spoke. _"We all know who caused that." _The snide voice from earlier interrupted. _"This has actually turned in our favor." _Ivan continued, _"The key being broken not only stopped our problem from escaping but it also got rid of another. If the x-captain hadn't been trapped our rebellion would be even harder. We need someone with small hands to pull the pins from the cell hinges when the time is right." _Mathew could not believe it. Ivan was talking about freeing Lukas. He could not understand what else he was talking about though.

_"Has every one figured out how many English men are still on the ship?" _Ivan asked as he looked through the crowed. _"There are fifteen." _One of the crew members said. _"How well are our relations with the Australians_ _and Cubans?" _Ivan asked looking through the crowed again. _"All the Cubans jumped ship and there are eight Australians." _Another crew member said. _"About six of them will side with us but three of them are shifty." "All right," _Ivan said as he spread out a map of the ship, _"Let's get this done right Da."_

The Russian's continued with their meeting while Mathew listened quietly. He could only understand about half of what they were talking about. He could tell it was not good though. It sounded like they planned to take over the ship and 'release' Lukas one way or another. Mathew felt bad during most of their meeting . He started realizing a lot of what they planned to do was either made possible or easier by what he had done. He decided since he helped create this mess he would destroy it to.

Mathew quietly snuck out of the meeting and went strait to the captain's quarters. Alfred's sleep was slightly disturbed when someone opened the door. He though nothing of it since he figured it was just Ivan being creepy. He felt a small hand grab his wrist and try to drag him out of bed. "Alfred get up! We need to get this fixed!" A familiar voice urged as its owner pulled Alfred. "What's happening Mattie." Alfred said groggily then quickly woke up. "Mattie!" He said in shock, "I though you jumped ship." "There's no time to explain come with me." Mathew quickly lead Alfred down to the brig.

"Arthur, Lukas get up!" A voice shouted as it came down the stairs with another person. Lukas awoke without any questions Arthur however was not happy at all. "What the bloody hell is going on!" He said as he saw Alfred and someone else come down the stairs. "The Russian's are planning a full scale mutiny." Mathew said as he ran over to Lukas. "Can you slow the ship down again?" He asked as he saw Lukas hold up his hands then point at Arthur. "Not unless this one stops trying to casts spells on me." Arthur ignored Lukas. He was to preoccupied with the cabin boy who sounded like Mathew but sis not look like him. "Who the hell are you?!" He asked while looking at Mathew. "I'm Mathew." He said while taking off the eye patch, the bandana, and correcting his posture. "Are you listening now?"


	13. Twisted words in the world

Alfred and Arthur stood in shock. "Are you guys even listening!?" Mathew said stating to get upset. "Wha-" Alfred was cut off. "Russian's, Mutiny, slowing the ship down!" Mathew said angrily. "Right." Arthur and Alfred said at the same time. "Lukas can you slow down the ship?" Mathew said slightly out of breath. "Yes as long as Arthur doesn't stop me." Lukas said shifting his eye towards the English man. "There's no way I'm letting him use anymore magic on my ship!" Arthur said stubbornly. "It's not your ship anymore," Alfred said, "It's mine."

"Everyone look away." Lukas said as he turned away from them. They all looked away. Lukas pulled out his hair Bret and held it tightly in his hand as he chanted. Once he finished he put the Bret back in and turned around. The ship came to a dead stop since all the Russians were still at the meeting so no one was manning the sails or any oars. The Scandinavians' ship quickly caught up to them.

The four Scandinavians boarded the pirate ship and expected a full on fight. They found Mathew and Alfred on the top deck. Matthias's eyes dead locked on Mathew and his hand griped his ax handle tighter. "Where's Lukas you two faced bastard?!" Matthias said as he stepped closer to Mathew. Alfred stepped in front of Mathew some as a warning to Matthias. "He's in the brig." Mathew said as Matthias stepped forward even more. Alfred was ready to fight Matthias if he some much as looked at Mathew again. Mathew put his hand on his brothers shoulder and pulled him back some. "We need your help to get him out." Mathew said looking at Matthias whose grip loosened from his ax.

Mathew and Alfred lead the others to the brig. When they reached the stairs Tino started shaking. Bernwald put his arm around Tino, "I won't let anything happen to you this time." He hugged him tightly, "I swear." Tino's shaking lessened and they all went down the stairs. Matthias ran passed Mathew and Alfred as soon as he saw Lukas. "Lukas!" He yelled his heavy footsteps echoing through the room. "You're so loud!" Lukas snapped at him. Arthur was honestly surprised that the Russians did not come to see what the commotion was about.

Lukas regretted being close to the cell door when Matthias showed up. He was instantly crushed into the bars by the overly excited Dane. "Get...off... me... Mat-" Lukas was cut off by Matthias hugging him tighter. As much as he did not want to ruin their reunion he was not enjoying being crushed. Lukas jabbed his fingers into Matthias's sides and the Dane almost dropped him. "You can say hello later." Lukas said as he watched the Dane back up.

Tino stopped shaking momentarily then almost vomited when he saw Arthur in the cell two. Arthur chuckled some when he saw Tino and made sounds like water being poured with his mouth. Bernwald pulled Tino closer while glairing at Arthur. The three other Scandinavians watched this happen in a confused manner since neither Tino or Bernwald told them what happened when they were prisoners.

Arthur finally stopped when Mathew said, "Shut your bloody mouth git." He had a look his face Arthur had never seen before. It looked like anger. "At least he's speaking English." Arthur mumbled under his breath. "Ne me le faites pas regretter." (Don't make me regret it.) Mathew snapped at him then went calm. "Je sais combien vous aimez français." (I know how much you love French.) He said as thickly as possible then turned to everyone else.

Matthew started to explained how the cell door could be removed. "If you lift the door with enough force and pull the pins out the door come off." Mathew told the people who had not seen him escape the day before so they would understand what was going on. Emil would go up the stairs to be the look out while Alfred, Matthias, and Bernwald lifted the door while Mathew and Lukas removed the pins.

Bernwald had to let go of Tino in order to help lift the door. Tino grabbed his arm. Bernwaldturned back around to see what was wrong and was pulled closer. Tino slipped a key into Bernwald's pocket. "Don't let that bastard get out." Tino knew that once Lukas was free Matthias would have no reason to help lift the door and it would take awhile for Mathew and Alfred to get another crew member to help them get Arthur out.

Bernwald walked over to the cell door where the key hole was. "Jag har nyckeln.Låt oss få Lukas och komma ut." (I have the key. Let's get Lukas and get out.) Bernwald said quiet and low. Matthias and Bernwald looked like they were going to lift the door but Bernwald secretly slipped the key in the hole and turned it. Burnwald quickly opened the door and Mathias grabbed Lukas. Bernwald closed the door almost a quickly as he had opened it and broke the key off in the lock.

The Scandinavians made a break for their ship but were stopped by a large group of Russians. Alfred and Mathew chased after the Scandinavians and stopped when they saw the Russian's as well. Ivan was in front of all of them. "Mattie." He said pleasantly as his eyes went from the Scandinavians over to him and his brother. Ivan snapped his fingers behind his back. The Russian's quickly subdued the Scandinavians and waited for orders on what to do with them.

Ivan walked over to Alfred, "What should be done with the prisoners captain?" He asked in a child like manner while leaning down to be at Alfred's height, "They go in the brig Da?" Alfred was very unnerved by the way Ivan was asking him this. Alfred looked over to the Scandinavians whose torsos were parallel to the ground and each had at least two Russians hold them down. Alfred tensed up, "D-" he could not believe it did he almost say Da instead of yes. Ivan grinned he noticed Alfred's slip up as well. He waved for the prisoners to be taken to the brig.

"Do you have a plan for you brother Alfred?" Ivan asked turning his head towards Mathew some. "N-" Alfred was interrupted by Ivan. "Good, then we'll go with my plan then." Ivan pulled out a pair of shackles and a chain. He put the shackles on Mathew's wrists and attached the chain to them. Ivan held the other end of the chain in his hand like a dog leash. Mathew wanted to cry he felt powerless, humiliated, and on top of it all neither him or his brother could do anything about it.

Ivan pulled Mathew's chain and started to walk towards the brig. Alfred fallowed them both feeling as though he was on a chain two. Mathew was forced to watch as the people he tried to help were placed in cells. Lukas and Emil were both shoved into a small cell together. Bernwald was put in the cell next to theirs. Matthias was forced in the cell next to Bernwald.

Tino was going to be placed in the cell next to Matthias but someone stopped them. "How about you put him in here." Arthur said with a smile. Ivan handed Mathew's chain to Alfred and went over to Arthur's cell. The key had not been broken correctly and there was enough to be able to turn it by. Ivan went back over to Tino. He struggled as the large Russian dragged him across the room to Arthur's cell.

Ivan opened the cell and threw Tino in. Arthur tried to get out before Ivan shut the door. "Hey!" Arthur protested, "There's no reason to keep me here!" "Da there is." Ivan said with a smile, "You're not right in the head." Alfred dropped Mathew's chain. He always knew the weird things Arthur claimed to see would be his down fall and that he may have a part in it.


	14. Down in the brig

Arthur went pale and started shaking. How could Ivan have found out about what Arthur could see. The only people who knew were Mathew and...Alfred. Arthur looked past Ivan and saw Alfred hanging his head in shame and despair. "That's right," Ivan said with a smile, "he told me. He shouted it out when we-" He stopped talking and looked back at Alfred some out of the corner of his eye.

Alfred tried to look away only to see everyone staring at him. He left the room as quickly as he could. He felt both embarrassed and ashamed. Why would Ivan bring up that they did stuff. In front of their crew! Alfred was mad at himself. He vaguely remembered Ivan asking him about Arthur but he could not remember what he said. Alfred decided to go back down and have a serous talk with Ivan.

When Alfred went down the stairs again most of the crew left. A few crew members how ever stayed so they could watch what was about to go down. "Ivan why the hell did you-" Ivan's hand went over Alfred's mouth, "This is privet Da?" Ivan said while narrowing his eyes some. Alfred shook his head yes. "Perhaps we should talk later." Ivan said as he took his hand off Alfred's mouth and nudged him out of the room.

The remaining crew members left the brig afterward leaving only Ivan, Mathew, and the prisoners. Ivan walked over to Mathew and removed his chain. He then moved him to a cell that isolated him from the other prisoners. "One thing I've noticed about prisoner escapes it they need a mastermind." Ivan said as he shackled Mathew's foot to the back of his cell so he could not reach the door this time. "The one thing they all have in common is you." He said while also shackling Mathew's wrists to a bar. "You wont escape this time Da." "Nyet." Mathew said with a smile and was smacked for giving the wrong answer. Ivan left the brig shortly afterwards to go 'talk' with Alfred.

Once they both had left Arthur curled up and sat in the corner for a few minutes before remembering that Tino was in the same cell. He slowly made himself more comfortable and started harassing his cell mate. He made sounds like water dropping, splashing, and being poured. Tino did not notice it at first because Arthur was trying to be stubble and slowly build up. At first Tino just covered his ears but he could still hear Arthur making the sounds.

Alfred was waiting at the top of the stairs with his dagger drawn. He had managed to convince himself that Ivan was just using him and did not actually care about him. As Ivan came up the stairs one of the crew members signaled Ivan that Alfred was there. Ivan came up the stairs slower and skipped over the last few steps and surprised Alfred. "What are you doing Alfred?" Ivan grinned as he pinned Alfred to the wall. He stopped grinning when he felt something metallic in his side.

Alfred and Ivan both looked down and saw the dagger in Ivan's side. Ivan stepped took a step back. Alfred reached for the dagger. Ivan grabbed his wrist. "Nyet, leave it in." Ivan said as a small crowd started to form. "It's my turn Da." He pulled out his oar handle swing it with his arm as he circled around Alfred. Ivan swung the oar and Alfred ducked under it. He went strait for Ivan and knocked him over.

Ivan got up quickly. Alfred barley got to his knees before getting kicked in the ribcage. He looked up at Ivan and pulled the dagger out of his side. "I told you to leave it in Alfred." Ivan said as he hit Alfred in the side with his oar. Alfred fell over. He was not expecting the Russian to be as strong or ready to fight. Alfred started fighting dirty and this pissed Ivan off.

Ivan came back to the brig hours later with Alfred. They both looked bruised and beaten. "You won't be doing that again Da." Ivan said as he shoved Alfred to his knees in and Isolated cell like Mathew's. Alfred let the Russian do as he pleased. He was to weak to fight any more. "It's not nice to do that to people Alfred." Ivan said while holding where Alfred had stabbed then punched him. He put his hand through the cell bars and took the captain's hat off his head and tossed it aside. Then he leaned down to talk to Alfred. "If you wanted to fight you should have done it fairly." Ivan left the brig to let Alfred wallow in his loss of his fathers ship.

No one spoke to Alfred when he arrived which gave the room un unsettling feel. After awhile Mathew broke the silence. "What happened?" He asked scooting as close as he could. "I planned to take out Ivan so the Russian's wouldn't continue with their mutiny. He knew where I was though and cornered me. I stabbed him on accident and we started fighting." Alfred's head sunk down. "He won." The brig remained quiet for what felt like ages.

Whenever Emil had been placed in a cell with Lukas he was not very happy about it. When he saw how isolated Alfred and Mathew were, he was a little happier. Despite their differences they were still brothers. He scooted a little closer to Lukas then it felt like his body had a mind of its own. Before he knew it he had curled up to his brother and they were both on the verge of tears. Lukas was shocked at first, this did not happen the other times. He put his arms around his little brother and rocked him from side to side while humming. Emil had not heard Lukas hum that song since he was little. He wanted to get out of Lukas's grasp at first and keep what remained of his dignity but Lukas held him tighter. "Jegvil ikke mistedeg ikke mistenoen av dere." (I won't lose you again. I won't lose any of you.) Lukas whispered so quietly no one heard him.

Bernwald watched the two of them for a moment then looked to Tino. He was curled up in the corner of his and Arthur's cell. He was watching Emil and Lukas as well. Bernwald wanted to go over and hold him. Tino looked over to Bernwald. They were both having the same thought. Matthias had been watching Lukas and Emil as well. He could not take being apart from Lukas and turned away from the two of them only to see Bernwald and Tino looking at each other and sulking. Ivan had put them in cells away from each other on purpose.

One by one every body in the brig fell asleep to Lukas's humming. Mathew woke up a few hours later. He heard some one coming into the brig. They held a lamp that barley lit the ground near their feet. Mathew tried to figure out who it was but could not see them at all. He heard them walking towards Alfred's cell. There was a sound like a door unlocking. Mathew quietly shifted closer to see what was happening.

Ivan leaned into Alfred's cell and put his hand over his mouth. Alfred jerked awake and started to squirm. Ivan pulled Alfred up and out of his cell leaving the door open. He started to lead a fighting Alfred out of the brig. Mathew sat in silence until morning came.

Emil woke up still in Lukas's arms and was tempted to just fall back asleep but something was not right. He put his ear to Lukas's heart which pounded like Lukas had been fighting for his life. Emil slowly got up and looked at an incredibly pale Lukas. "L-Lukas?" Emil said as he picked Lukas's arm up by the wrist. It fell limply to the ground. Emil was a little worried, "Lukas?" he said again while putting his hand to Lukas's fore head. Emil could not tell if Lukas was hot or cold. He put is hand on the ground to cool it so he could hopefully tell Lukas's temperature better. Nothing changed.


	15. Lukas? Are you ok?

The sudden activity of the two caused Bernwald and Matthias to wake up. "Vadär det för fel?" (What's wrong?) Bernwald asked not fully awake yet. Matthias scooted as close as he could to see what was happening. Emil ignored them and decided to try and wake Lukas up. "Lukas?!" Emil poked his face then sat back some and mumbled, "Big brother." Lukas still did not wake up. Emil leaned forward, "Lukas!"

Every one but Lukas woke up when Emil yelled. "What the hell are you doing?!" Arthur asked as he propped himself off the floor some. Tino ignored the fact that he had to get closer to Arthur so he could see what was happening. Emil poked Lukas's face again and it flopped to the side. He tried to put Lukas's head in a better position only for Lukas to fall forward.

Emil flipped him over and propped his head off the floor. Lukas's lips parted slightly and he looked paler than before. "Is anyone going to catch that?" Arthur asked as he looked at something only he could see. Everyone ignored him. Lukas's face started to color some and he started to look normal again. "Hva skjedde?" (What happened?) Emil hugged his brother and heard a frightening voice in his ear. "That's not me." The voice said, "ask it anything."

Emil listened to the voice. "What's my name?" He asked Lukas. "What?" Lukas said as he shifted some. "It's Emil." Lukas said as he tried to get up some but his movements were to uncoordinated to allow him to. "How do I know you?" Emil asked. "You're my big brother." Lukas said. The whole room had an unsettled feel to it. "You're not Lukas." Emil said as he franticly staggered back as far as he could.

An outline of a figure started to appear behind Emil. "No it's not." A voice came from the figure as it stared to take shape. "I am." Every one looked at the apparition which took on a familiar shape. Emil was grabbed by 'Lukas' and held close but not in a good way. The apparition floated forward some when Emil had been grabbed and stopped. 'Lukas' put his hand on Emil and threatened to press a very sensitive and deadly pressure point. "That's right." 'Lukas' said pulling Emil closer. "Let go of my little brother Norsk." Lukas said.

Norsk smiled though Lukas's mouth, "Awe, I knew I messed up when I thought he was your big brother." "L-Lu-Lukas?!" Matthias said as he looked at Norsk. He looked back at him. As he did Emil forced himself out of Norsk's grasp and Lukas forced his way into his body again. Luka's body fell to the floor. "Don't...let...him...out."

Lukas woke up in an empty black room. He looked up from what he assumed was the floor and saw himself. The thing he saw looked like him though it was much younger, a child. A large grin stretched across its face, "Jegtrodde ikke duville ha dennerve." (I didn't think you'd have the nerve.) The child lifted its arms like a puppeteer. Lukas felt like he was not in control of himself as the child started to chant and move its hands articulacy. He started floating some, "Norsk put me down." The child's grin turned into a smile, "No." Norsk continued to move Lukas like a puppet and giggled some.

"What do you want?" Lukas said as he looked at Norsk. He set Lukas down and sat on the ground. "I want my house back." the child mumbled trying to avoid eye contact with Lukas. "I had to burn it Norsky." Lukas said as he walked over to the child, "I'll get you a new one if we get out of here." Norsk slumped some. "I have some where for you to stay." Lukas said as he pulled the barrette from his hair and offered it to Norsk. The child reached for it but pulled his hand back, "I want some place bigger." He said turning away from Lukas. Lukas squatted down next to the child, "Where did you have in mind?" Something pulled him back to consciousness.

Lukas awoke from his meeting sopping wet. Ivan had thrown a bucket of cold water on him. "Do you mind, I was kind of busy." Lukas said as he glared at Ivan. He grinned as he set the bucket down, "It's not nice to sleep through breakfast Lukas." There was a small tray on the ground with a cup of water and biscuit on the ground. Lukas looked around and saw the others had empty trays. He glared a little then ate the food. Half way through the biscuit he started to choke. Emil moved his hand to help his brother but it was quickly swatted away.

Lukas continued choking on something before a small hair barrette came out of his mouth. Emil reached to touch it and was swatted away again. The barrette started to glow with a light blue light before it disappeared. A small light blue apparition appeared next to Lukas. "I told you I wanted some place bigger." Norsk said.

Everyone in the room stared at Lukas and Norsk in shock. "Come here little one." Ivan said as he knelt down. Norsk started to float over to Ivan. Lukas grabbed his hand before he could make it out of the cell. Norsk went back to Lukas and sat in his lap. Ivan stayed on his knees so he could be at eye level with the child.

"What's your name?" Ivan asked as he sat down. "Nor-" Norsk was cut off when Lukas put a hand over his mouth. Lukas leaned down and whispered in Norsk's ear, "Ikke snakk tilham." (Don't talk to him) Lukas removed his hand from Norsk's mouth and let the child entertain himself. Lukas looked over to Ivan who was watching Norsk play. "Don't talk to him." Lukas said glaring at Ivan some. Ivan grinned some, "I just wanted to be friends with him."

Norsk's head turned towards Ivan. "Friends?" Norsk asked while cockling his head to the side and looking genuinely confused. The grin faded from Ivan's face as he looked over to Lukas. "He doesn't know what friends are?!" He said trying to sound shocked and concerned. Norsk looked up at Lukas who pulled him closer as if trying to hide him from Ivan.

Norsk squirmed some so he could see Ivan better. Ivan smiled when he saw this. He looked down, "You want to know what friends are Da." He held out his hand, "I can show you." Norsk tried to get out of Lukas's grip only to be held tighter. Ivan's face went serious as he looked at Lukas. "You should be ashamed for not letting him have friends." Ivan's face softened as he turned back to Norsk. "You wanted to be free Da? Of course you do why else would you have came out of that tiny barrette."

Norsk stopped squirming, "What's freedom?" Lukas took Norsk out of his lap, "I told you not to talk to him." He scolded. Norsk looked away from Lukas and squirmed some. "Don't touch me." Norsk mumbled. Matthias snickered some, "He not only looks like you but he acts like you two." They both turned their heads towards him, "Shut it Matthias." They had both said it at the same time. "How do you know his name?" Lukas said turning to Norsk.

"I know all of their names." Norsk said as he looked around the room and named them all off. "Where is the other one?" Norsk asked once he got to Mathew. Everyone turned to Alfred's empty cell. "Yeah, where is he Ivan?" Mathew said with a hint of sass in his voice. Ivan almost panicked but calmed. "I don't know where he is." He turned his head back to Norsk, "Do you want to help me look for him?"

Norsk looked very uninterested. Ever since being scolded he seemed less naïve. "If he's not here then he's somewhere else. Someone will bring him back or he'll make his way back some other way." That was always what happened all the other times someone went missing. Ivan laughed, "There is more to this ship than just this room." Norsk was confused. Every time he went somewhere their was only one room but that was when he was confined to an object. He was in the real world now.


	16. Colors

Once he realized this his body became more physical. He stopped floating and his skins blue glow faded slightly and was replaced with pink. He tried to go over to Ivan but he could not move. This was the first time he had to actually walk. He took a few shaky steps closer to Ivan before being pulled back by Lukas. "How do you people stand this?!" Norsk wined as he squirmed in Lukas's grasp. He tired out quickly still unaccustomed to his physical body.

"Maybe we should look for him later." Ivan said as he got up and went to get some food for the child and himself. On his way to the kitchen he decided it would be a good idea to bring Alfred back to the brig after all. He put a roll and an apple on his pocket before going to his quarters to get Alfred. He was still in the same spot Ivan had left him. Ivan picked Alfred up off the floor, "Last night was fun Da?" Alfred's fists tightened he would have punched the Russian if his hands were unshackled and if Ivan could not defeat him easily. He was lead back to the brig.

Once Ivan had left Lukas scolded Norsk further. "I told you not to talk to him. You can't control everything in this world. Things aren't the same here as in what you're used to." Ivan came in with Alfred. When Ivan tried to put Alfred back in his cell Alfred tried to flip him in and shut the door. All he succeeded in doing was popping his shoulder out of place and throwing them both off balance. Once Alfred was thrown back in his cell Ivan sat near Lukas and Emil's cell.

"I knew things were the same here!" Norsk shouted happily as his light blue glow returned and he floated out of the cell. Lukas tried to grab Norsk's hand but it went right through. He floated over to Ivan and sat in his lap. "Can you tell me what friends are?" He asked as he looked up at the Russian. "Da." Ivan said as pulled the apple out of his pocket and held it out to Norsk. He was barely able to hold it since it was a solid object and he was not. "I'll show you the ship while I tell you." Ivan got up and offered his hand to the child to help him up. Norsk had lost his concentration when this happened and dropped the apple.

The apple rolled over to Matthias's cell and he picked it up. He took a bite out of it then threw it at Ivan. It hit him right in the nose and split in half. "Dang!" Matthias said as he laughed, "If your nose was normal sized it wouldn't have broke." Ivan stomped over to Matthias. He put his hands through the bars and lifted him by the collar. "Your lucky there's a child here." Ivan said as he let go of Matthias.

Ivan looked over at where Norsk had been before he went over to Matthias's cell. He was gone. Ivan looked around the room and saw him in Arthur and Tino's cell. It looked like he was holding something but Ivan could not see it. "That's called a fairy." Arthur said as he pointed to the invisible object. Norsk laughed as he turned in circles fallowing whatever had been in his hand. Ivan walked over to them and sat down.

Ivan watched Norsk play with the thing he could not see. Norsk did not notice Ivan until the fairy he was playing with cowered behind Arthur. He stared to question his decision to be around Ivan. "Are you ready?" Ivan asked holding his hand out to the child again. "You don't have to go with him." Arthur said as he leaned towards Norsk, "I can tell you what friends are instead." "I'm sorry but I already agreed to something." Norsk said as he floated over to Ivan again.

Norsk grabbed Ivan's hand this time. As he did he felt something like himself holding his hand. He looked down and saw a black shadow over Ivan's hand. He wanted to pull away but could not get his hand free from its grasp. The two of them left the brig.

"Where are we going?" Norsk asked as he looked up at the Russian. "It's a surprise." Ivan lead Norsk to Arthurs quarters. All four walls were covered in books. Norsk's eyes widened when he saw this. "You like books Da?" Ivan said as he felt the child let go of his hand. Norsk floated all over the room piling up books in the middle of the room. When he had piled up all the books he wanted to read he sat on the pile and looked at Ivan.

"Are you going to tell me what friends are?" He asked while picking one last book off the shelf and sitting back down. "In my country a friend is called a Comrade." Ivan sat next to Norsk. "That means we see each other as equals and partners." Norsk looked at him, "Are me and Lukas Comrades?" "Nyet," Ivan looked back at Norsk, "He sees you as an object still, something he controls." Norsk started turning red, "I am alone then." He said quietly as his head sunk to his chest.

Ivan held his arm around Norsk. "You're not alone Norsky." Ivan lifted the boys chin, "You're my Comrade." Norsk started to smile some. Ivan got up, "I'll come back in two hours to check up on you little Comrade." He put his hand on Norsk head and pretended to ruffle his hair then left the room.

Ivan did not come back two hours later. He came four hours later. When he went back in the room all the books were scattered on the was in the middle of the room crying. "What's wrong little Comrade?" Ivan said as he tried to pick Norsk up off the floor but his arms just went through him. He tried again and this time Norsk was more solid. "I went through and in all of the books. I met people like me." "Did you make any friends?" Ivan asked as he started rocking Norsk.

"They all hated me." Norsk said as he started becoming less solid, "Some of them tried to kill me." "That's the way of the world little Comrade," Ivan set him down, "but we can change that." Ivan pulled out a book from his coat and handed it to Norsk. "Tell them your Comrade Ivan sent you and if anyone gets in your way shout 'YA Norsk ! Vash novyy lider!' " (I am Norsk! Your new leader!)

Norsk opened the book and went in. A few minutes later Norsk came back out of the book. He was no longer light blue and he did not look like Lukas. He was a deep crimson and looked like a young Ivan. "What is your name?" Ivan asked the transformed Norsk. "Rossiya." It grinned and looked at Ivan, "Did you miss me Comrade Ivan?"

"Da." Ivan said as he opened his arms and allowed the child the chance to embrace him. "Nyet." Rossiya said while firmly planting his feet, "Not yet." "Do you want to go see Lukas?" Ivan asked as he stood up. "Nyet." Rossiya answered again, "I want to revisit my vragi." (enemies) He was holding a book and smirking. "I'll be back in four hours to check on you." Ivan said as he left the room and locked the door.

Ivan came back eight hours later. The door was unlocked. When he went in the room was clean. The books were all back on the shelves and Rossiya sat in a chair. "Dobro pozhalovat'." (Welcome back.) Rossiya said as he stood up and went over to Ivan with his arms open. Ivan knelt down and hugged the child. "You seem to be in a good mood. Did you make any friends?" Ivan asked while they hugged. "Nyet," Rossiya said as he let go, "I killed them all." Ivan grabbed the child's shoulders, "That's not always the answer little Comrade." He let go of the child, "You will learn when you get older Da." This time when he went to ruffle the child's hair it actually moved. Rossiya was able to make himself much more solid than Norsk was.


	17. Demonic child

Ivan felt something wet when he ruffled Rossiya's hair but he did not want to look at what it was. "It's night time isn't it." Rossiya said as his eyelids started to look heavier. "Da it is, let's find you a place to sleep. Ivan got up and offered his dry hand to the child. "I want the other hand." He wined in an unnatural tone. Ivan reluctantly gave the child the other hand and saw what it was wet with. It was blood.

Ivan started to walk to Alfred's quarters when Rossiya stopped walking. "What's wrong?" Ivan asked as he turned to the child. "I want to sleep in the brig." He wined unnaturally again. "Nyet little Comrade it would be to uncomfortable to sleep in." Rossiyawimperd some and his head sunk to his chest. "I'm sorry Rossiya, you can sleep their tomorrow Da." A fowl smell started to come off Rossiya as he turned darker. "Ok." He said disappointedly. The two of them continued to Alfred's quarters.

"This is your room now." Ivan said as he unlocked the door and opened it. There was nothing of interest in the room for Rossiya except for a small dusty bookshelf with bout twenty books on it that looked like they had never been touched. He was to tired to care about what else was in the room. He looked over where the bed was and saw Ivan fixing the covers. Rossiyaploped down on the bed while Ivan was fixing the last cover. "Rossiya, that's not how you sleep in a bed." Ivan picked the child up and fixed the cover the rest of the way before putting him in the bed. "The covers go on top Da." Ivan said as he tucked Rossiya in the bed. "Spokoynoynochi." (Good night) Ivan said as he shut the door. "Dos vidaniya." (Goodbye.) Rossiya said with a grin.

The next morning when Ivan went to go wake up Rossiya he was not in his room. Ivan went to the kitchen to see if he had gotten up early and was eating breakfast but he was not their either. Since he was in the kitchen anyway Ivan grabbed a roll and an apple for when he found Rossiya. He looked in Arthur's quarters and did not find him. He heard a scream come from the brig and knew where Rossiya was now.

When Ivan went down the stairs he saw Rossiya sleeping in the cell next to Tino. He was screaming like a girl at the sight of a bloody child in the cell next to him. The screaming owe everyone but Rossiya up. Tino stopped screaming when Ivan walked over to the cell with the child in it. "Rossiya I thought I told you nyet sleeping in the brig." Ivan said as he opened the cell door and sat Rossiya up against the bars.

Rossiya opened his eyes, "Dobroye utro." (Good morning.) Tino almost started screaming again but Arthur put his hand over his mouth. "Rossiya, why did you sleep in the brig?" Ivan said as he held the child upright. "The bed was uncomfortable." Rossiya said as he started waking up more. Ivan laughed a little, "Have you eaten yet?" He said getting ready to pull out the roll. "Da." Rossiya said while pointing at a pile of fur that used to be a rat. Tino almost barfed, he had heard something crunching during the night and had thought it was his imagination.

"Do you have any food? The rat wasn't enough." Rossiya looked a bit embarrassed that he was asking for more food. "Da, I brought a roll and an apple." Ivan hand both to the child who ate the roll and just looked at the apple. He grabbed the apple then stood up. He walked over to Matthias's cell and smiled at him. He stood their for a moment then stopped smiling. He just stared at Matthias's and threw the apple at his face. It hit him in the fore head and broke. "If you skull wasn't so thick it would've gone right through Da." Rossiya said as he picked up one of the pieces and ate it.

"N-Norsk?" Lukas could not believe his eyes. "Nyet I'm Rossiya, Norsky's not here right now." He said with an expression of shear bliss, mixed with something that made every one in the room feel sick. Rossiya looked around the room and saw Alfred. "Ooo~" He cooed as he ran across the room to Alfred's cell. He bounced a little as he looked down at Alfred, "Wha' ya' doin'?" Alfred looked away from the child.

"Rossiya leave Alfred alone. He's still sulking about the last time me and him played with each other." Ivan said as he went over and tried to nudge Rossiya in a different direction. "I wanna play with him to~." Rossiya wined as he stayed put. A voice Rossiya had never heard came from across the room. "You should listen to your father Rossiya." Bernwald said.

Rossiya turned around and cocked his head to the side. He looked at the Swede for a moment the said, "You want to play two Da?" He walked over to Bernwald and sat in front of his cell. "What do you want to play?" Rossiyaasked chearfuly. "You pick." Bernwald said as he sat up some and faced the child more. "Can we play 'strashnyye litsa'?" The child asked. "Sure." Bernwald said not sure what he was agreeing to. "When you flinch it's my turn." Rossiya said right before making a bizar face that made Burnwaldunhunch some. He started to figure out the game was called 'scary face'.

The two of them played it for awhile. This was one of the few times that Bernwald was glad he lacked facial expressions. Rossiya finally made him flinch by lurching forward as he made a face. "Yay! I win!" Rossiya did a small victory dance as he said this. Bernwald had a very small grin on his face as the child danced. Rossiya saw it and decided he was going to make the emotion lacking man smile. He did different dances and faces but got no more than a grin. Rossiya was about to throw a fit when Ivan stepped up to him. "Come little Comrade, I still haven't shown you all of the ship." "And he could use a bath." Bernwald said as he sat back some. Rossiya's jaw dropped and his eye bugged out which caused Bernwald to finally have a small smile. Rossiya smiled two. He did not mind being insulted by the Swede since it made him smile.

Rossiya grabbed Ivan's hand and was and was lead out of the brig. "You shouldn't talk to prisoners little Comrade," Ivan squatted down to be at eye level with the child, "you might become one." Rossiya turned his head away and Ivan put his hands on the child shoulders, "you're not going to talk to them again right?" Rossiya's head sunk, "Nyet, I wouldn't not talk to them." Ivan lifted Rossiya's head by the chin, "Rossiya, don't twist your words." "Why not?" He said with a small grin. Ivan's eyes narrowed, "Go to your room," He stood up and pushed the child twards his room, "and don't come out till I get you." Ivan could tell Rossiya was trying to test his boundaries and he was not going to let him get far.

Ivan went back to Rossiya's room a few ours later and it was empty. He searched for him for about an hour before telling the crew to look for him. "Captain I think I found him." A crew member said as he pointed to the top of the captain's quarters. Ivan climbed to where the crew member was pointing and saw something strange.

Rossiya was chasing seagulls. He caught one after a few tried and held it. Once he noticed Ivan was their he started tugging on the gulls wings. "I told you to stay in your room Da?" Ivan said as he watched the child. Rossiya pulled one of the wings off the gull and ate it then pulled the other off and offered it to Ivan. "Nyet, I've already eaten." Ivan lied.


	18. Red

Rossiya continued to eat the struggling gull. "Why did you leave you room Rossiya?" Ivan persisted. "It's a surprise." Rossiya said as he stood up. They both watched the pile of feathers blow away. The child laughed as he picked up the last feather and ate it. Ivan picked Rossiya up and climbed back down.

A few days passed and Rossiya started to behave himself. He still ate small creatures in a disgusting manor which Ivan slowly tried to stop. The crew seemed to get smaller as he did this though. Ivan passed it off as his imagination and tried not to think about it. The first crew member who went missing was eventually found but his skeleton was all that remained. Ivan was not going to keep a man eater on board. He decided to go to the brig and use the prisoners to his advantage. Their were only forty crew members left and he did not want to lose any more.

Ivan unlocked all the cell doors, "Who ever gets that thing off my ship gets off as well." "Where's Alfred?!" Mathew said as he looked at the empty cell. "I think I know where he is." Ivan said as he went up the stairs and everyone fallowed him. Rossiya was on the top deck sitting on what would have been his latest meal. He was an even darker shade of crimson and his hands were covered in blood. "You want to play two Da?" He said as he got off of Alfred.

Everyone got ready for a fight. Matthias was the first to strike. He swung his ax sideways and tried to hit Rossiya but it went strait through him. "My turn Da?" Rossiya grabbed the ax handle and pulled it out of Matthias's hands. He turned the ax towards Matthias and went after him. Matthias ran but tripped over his own feet. When he fell the ax was planted firmly into his back. Rossiya smiled as he let go of the ax and it held its self up.

Bernwald moved in front of Tino and tried to block his view of Matthias. Rossiya's head snapped towards the group and he smiled sinisterly. He decided to go after Mathew next. Rossiya ran towards Mathew and the group split from him. He knock Mathew over and was about to sit on his abdomen and start eating when something caught his eye. Arthur was running towards them. Mathew got up and ran while Rossiya was distracted.

Arthur was holding the fairy Nosk had played with. Rossiya looked at Arthur blankly He could no longer see the fairy. Arthur held his hand closer to the child, "Can you see her?" "Nyet." Rossiya said as he clamped his jaws down on Arthur's hand. Arthur kicked the child in the stomach causing him to let go. The fairy fell to the ground dead. "Now I see her!" Rossiya said happily as he picked up the fairy and ate it. Arthur wanted to smack the child for eating the fairy but left before he was next.

Lukas saw his chance to end the fighting before they lost anyone. "I hope no one has anything to hide." Lukas said as a white orb floated from his hand and into the air. Rossiya looked at it curiously before he walked over and looked into it. Lukas ran over to Matthias to remove the ax from his back and heal him. Arthur started to look at the orb and was in tears. He saw everyone he had ever killed and everything he had done wrong his hole life. Most of what he saw was Francis and Mathew. "Don't look at it!" Lukas shouted at him as he tried to pick Matthias up off the floor. Tino pulled Arthur back and Bernwald helped get Matthias up.

"Let's go back to brig. I doubt anyone wants to see this." Lukas said as Emil, Bernwald, and himself carried Matthias. Arthur and Mathew picked up Alfred and headed towards the brig. Ivan stayed to see what was going to happen to Rossiya who was still looking into the orb. Rossiya laughed the memories he was seeing were Norsk's not his. His laughter slowly stopped as he saw the memories change to his. He smiled at first then looked up at Ivan with a strange and confused expression. "I've disobeyed you so many times yet you still care for me." The child looked like he was on the verge of tears, "Why?" Ivan walked over to him and knelt down, "Because you're my Comrade," Ivan said as he opened his arms and the child embraced him, "I care about you as much as I do myself."

Rossiya let go of Ivan and turned back towards the orb. "I need to keep watching." He said as he sat down, "I don't want you to see most of this." He said as his head sunk some. "You'll come back in a few hours and check on me Da?" Rossiya said still staring at the orb. "Da." Ivan agreed as he went down to the brig.

"If Matthias and Bernwald come from here it won't see me and Arthur..." Lukas heard something and looked towards the stairs. Ivan sat in the corner and the meeting continued. "If they come from over here wouldn't it know something's going on?" Arthur asked. All seven of them exchanged plans for an hour or so before Ivan spoke. "What does that orb do?" Ivan asked as he looked over at Lukas.

"What?" Lukas was unsure why Ivan would want to know. "What is the orb going to do to him?" Ivan persisted. "It makes your life flash before your eyes. Most mortals die if they look at it to long since they can't handle it. I'm not sure what it will do to him." The final touches were put on their plan and they went back to the top deck.

The orb was still floating in the air but something was not right. The orb had turned black and Rossiya was sitting under it. Half of his face formed a demonic smile while the other half of his face was crying. "H-help me!" Rossiya screamed as his body started to fade. Ivan ran over to the child and tried to calm him. Rossiya screamed more then faded completely leaving only a small scarf behind.

Ivan picked up the scarf and kept his face hidden from the others view. He stayed on his knees and looked up at the orb. It had turned white again before disappearing. Arthur signaled for the crew members who had watched to get Ivan. They circled around him and pulled him to his feet. Ivan did not fight them he just looked up at Lukas. "This was your plan Da?" Half of Ivan's face had the same smile and features as Rossiya.

As he was taken to the brig Arthur tried not to look at him. Arthur looked at the Scandinavians, "Get the bloody hell off my ship."


	19. Epilog

The Scandinavians were allowed to return to their ship and eventually made it home. Matthias made a full recovery, Tino and Bernwald started a family, Emil wrote a book about what they went through, and Lukas made a new spell book, he used the barrette that Norsk came from as its book mark. Ivan remained imprisoned for a year before being sentenced to the gallows. The day before his execution though he had disappeared leaving behind his scarf and a smaller identical scarf. Arthur retired from being a captain and left his ship to Mathew and Alfred. Arthur managed to get back in touch with Francis and through much begging and pleading was taken back. Alfred became one of the most well known pirates of the Pacific Ocean. His run was short lived because Mathew kept freeing the prisoners and one of them assassinated Alfred. Mathew retired after Alfred died and started a family. He felt responsible for Alfred's death and named his first son after his brother.

* * *

Sorry for killing off Alfred but the original idea I had killed off more characters and was a lot sadder. I might continue the story of Ivan and Rossiya :D. Hope you all enjoyed it (Try not to judge me to harshly I'm new at this)


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